This past weekend I attended Tri Delta's Spring Formal as one of my dearest little sister's date. Well, back-up date to be exact- which was the only reason I didn't turn down the invite in fear of being "that girl" who returns to her old sorority events in hopes of re-living her college years.
My biological sister serves as the Continuing Education Chair where one of her duties is making sure the seniors are recognized in a special way as they enter the next chapter of their lives. This year, she chose to have a table at formal, on the table was a card for each graduating senior. On my way out, I stopped to write a few words in these cards, all ending with "PC '07 <3 Heather." I made it to the last card before I was flooded with this unrecognizable feeling that came in the form of tears...or for anyone who knows me, hysteria. It was in that moment I realized that we have reached the end of the road in our collegiate journey. Those who are graduating now, are women I began that journey with nearly four years ago as strangers. We set out into the unknown together, side-by-side, and since have conquered all that we were set to endure. We got our big sisters, who (we felt) left us soon before we were ready; we held positions (we though) we would never be able to handle; and we became big sisters, who thought, we would never live up to what our big sisters were to us.
Everything everyone warned us about, preached to us about, got us excited for, prepared for, scared for and yearning for, we saw, we did, we faced, we accomplished, we overcame, we conquered and sometimes, we just figured it out. Those times we didn't, we had the greatest gift of all-- our sisters to lean on, to hold us up and to pull us through it. We had the wise words of those who came before us and our ritual book to hold tight.
Last night, as I turned off the light next to my bed I took a moment to appreciate the picture (and frame) that sits comfortably on my nightstand. It's a picture of my little sister and her little sister (my grandlittle) with Ohana engraved at the bottom, and three perfectly shaped Deltas. I smiled and glanced over at the two gorgeous paddles hanging on my wall, positioned perfectly under my initiation certificated from Tri Delta's Executive Office. It was such a surreal moment; one day I thought I would never see. Emotions ran again.
It's not a specific feeling; it's every feeling all at once. Four years ago I took a chance and a risk to participate in formal recruitment. By means of fate and God's will (and proper ritual procedures, of course) I became a Tri Delta. At that moment, I did not only pave a path for myself, but for my little sister who would- two years later- become my legacy. Whom I helped initiate and who wore (and almost lost) my pin proudly over her heart, for the next year. I never saw it before but I see it now that the leap of fate I took as a fearless 18-year-old freshman has changed the entire course of my life and my little sister's life-- and any daughters or neices we may have in the future.
This experience has taken me from a girl to a lady and now a woman who is ready to face the world alone and confidently, with Tri Delta near and dear to my heart. This has made us all better; has made us willing and able to embark on our newest journey and next chapter of our lives.
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