I was seventeen years old when she came into my life. A nearly bald-headed baby with one strand in the middle of her head as long as my own. Two years later, her sister, would come along too.
  I am the oldest of four children. Each of us very different in skills and talents. Yet, we have the same fierce independent streak that mom and dad raised us to have. My brother and I acted like true siblings. The age difference with my two sisters gave me a very different role.
  I was built-in nanny. When they had nightmares, they would come into my room and crawl into bed. I toted them everywhere I went. Just like my parents, I watched them in dance recitals and school functions. I watched them grow up into young ladies and watching Alex, the middle girl, make her way to boot camp for the US Navy.
  The Navy stole my brother many years ago. When I read his essay on what it meant to be a patriot in the United States, I had the inkling that we may not be able to stop him. My dad worked for a subcontractor for the Navy in Newport, RI. Mom and I had always been near a beach for most of my life. It only seems natural that the two middle children would join the Navy while Victoria and I, my parent's bookends remain in school.
  I know my sister will make it through with flying colors like my brother did. She will be an E3 Gunner's Mate when she is done with A school. I am proud of her but I will miss her dearly. I hope the Navy knows the two wonderful people from my family that they have chosen to be part of theirs.
  Alex is a bastion of strength, fortitude, and integrity. Watching her leave is like watching your child go off to college or get married. So the tears are readily flowing. She has a piece of my heart with her that I will never get back. Quite frankly, I don't want it back. I hope she can remember on the tough outer core of hers to use my heart piece as a reminder of what it means to have empathy.
Alex, Dad, and Mom
  Thanks for listening gentle readers. Give my sister your best thoughts and wishes for her life path.

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