It Won't Be Like This For Long

It won't be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be all grown up and gone
And this phase is gonna fly by, so he's trying to hold on
'Cause it won't be like this for long
It won't be like this for long

  

It Won't By Like This For Long - Darius Rucker

I took my sixteen year-old sister out to a country bar for line dancing the other night. My sister and I are best friends, and I would do anything and go anywhere for her. So, when she looked at me at the end of a very long Saturday, and asked me to take her dancing...I went straight to the bathroom and started to get ready. I wasn't terribly excited, but she's such a good kid, and if going dancing for a couple of hours with her older sister is really how she wanted to spend her Saturday night, I will take advantage of it every time. We only have so long to be best friends before she'll grow up and go off to school, get married and life will never be the same as it is right in this moment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent my early years with her, not being the best sister. At sixteen (she was twelve at the time), I got my first boyfriend. My life and my world revolved around him entirely for almost four years. I totally missed out on some of the most important years of Bailey's life because I couldn't see the forest fore' the trees. I thought she was a nuisance that  God had bestowed upon me to give me a lesson in patience and fortitude.

Being the youngest child at a really trying time in our family's history, means that Bailey got the short end of the stick when it came to attention. During her late elementary to middle school years, our oldest brother was trying to jump off the deep at end at every corner and my parent's soul purpose in life was to keep him from drowning. And while that was going on, I wanted to be anywhere but home. So, I spent all my time and energy with my boyfriend. I don't know what Bailey was thinking or feeling or what those years were really like for her. We shared a room, and there wasn't a night that I turned over and asked her how she was doing. When I think about that now, I am astounded with myself.

As I got older and finally took my head out of my ass, I realized I had been totally missing out on a kid that had always been there for me and the one kid who I acted like it was a chore to be around. One day I turned around and she was the beautiful, strong, intelligent and independent little girl who was begging for someone to pay attention to her. From that point on I was set on getting to know my little sister. Part of it was that I was finally single and I needed someone and part of it was that I had realized that I was missing out on her life. Whatever the reason, I'm so glad it happened.

Bailey makes me stronger every day; she is such a tough kid. She has a strength and defiance in her that I wish I could muster up for myself. I always considered myself tough until I got know Bailey; she is a bulldozer and I am mesmerized by her all the time.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We got to the bar around 8 o'clock and the parking lot was full to the brim with jacked up pick-up trucks and I was giggling at myself. This place was not usually my scene and I was still trying to figure out why I had agreed to, but Bailey was excited and ready to go. We walked through the door, got our underage wristbands and went inside. There were only a few people on the floor, doing dances that Bailey wasn't very familiar with, so we took a seat at the bar and ordered diet cokes (because we're children, and that's all we could order) and watched the dancing. It was mostly some older couples who, you could tell, had been doing this for years. They could practically do these dances in their sleep.

I was completely enamored with the whole scene. It was like something straight out of Hope Floats. Bailey and I just there for a long time watching, commenting, and sometimes laughing at the other spectacles going on around us. Finally, a song came on that Bailey recognized and she dragged me out onto the floor. Bailey knew all of the steps and I was fumbling my way through mimicking her foot work. It was hilarious and I was cracking up the whole night. I'm not half as smooth as I once was, and Bailey looked like she belonged there.

She has a funny way of being able to adapt to any situation she's thrown into. I've yet to find one area where she can't completely take over and fit right in. I believe strongly that God put Bailey in my life as a way of stretching me and pushing me to grow. I will never be as mystifying as Bailey, but she certainly makes me different just with her presence. I'm so blessed to have her as a sister.

Don't ever take your family for granted. There is more to be learned there, than you could ever expect or understand. Let go of your pride - there is a reason that God placed each person in your life. I know that now, better than anyone.