An Open Letter To My Younger Brother Going Off To College

This letter was written to my brother on the day of his high school graduation party.

An Open Letter

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I’ve been realizing more and more these past few months that you and I will probably never again live under the same roof for more than a couple of weeks at a time – with us both at college, me gone for the summers, and my graduation coming sooner than I’d like it to. Our time at “home” has come and gone. College is interesting: it’ll make you miss home only later to redefine what home means. You’ll learn that your home in wherever you can love and be with your family. Every time I call or facetime Mom and Dad, I’m home; every time I log into Facebook and see photos and moments being shared, I’m home.

College is full of experiences, experiences you’ll enjoy and some that you won’t. You might fall in love but you might get your heart broken. You might meet a professor or staff member that you cannot imagine your life without. You’ll ace some classes and shit the bed in others. You’ll make new friends and lose some old ones. You’ll come to love some people that you thought you hated, and you might hate some people that you thought you loved. You’ll take chances, you’ll play it safe. You’ll lose part of who you thought you were only to discover who you are starting to become. Take some walks; it’s there that you will really learn what you really want. You’ll groan about calling Mom every day, but eventually you’re going to realize there is no one in this world that loves you more. You’re never alone. You’ll find yourself down and lost, not knowing what to do. It’s then that you’ll remember you have a brother. You’ll remember what Nonna and Pa had hardened into our heads – that a brother is a God-given best friend, someone you’ll always have by our side. As we get older, like many other things, I’m glad they were right.

So when you go, go with force and gusto. Go with your eye on the future and your heart on the past. Go find out who you are, because I’d bet my life that you are going to be one hell of a man.

Good luck, Bud.

I love you.

R.

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