Bye Bye Bart

#97: From Someone Who'll Miss Being 'Te



The goodbye begins. I went to the salon yesterday to make sure I have decent hair for the family portrait on Saturday. I had been asking my whole family for years to agree to a formal photo shoot but for years they just ignored me. Now, we're all set. We should all be set. From the time the flashbulbs go off, we'll have around 10 days left till my brother leaves for California. I keep on hearing The O.C.'s soundtrack in my head every time the thought crosses my mind. California... California... here he comes....

He talks about getting furnishings from Ikea, taking The Bart to school... but I only hear distant sounds. Like the chatter of strangers in foreign restaurants. Or white noise. He's an adult already but I still see a little boy. Whom I named Coy. COY!!! Where are the car keys???? Coy, please work on this design. Please? COY! Phone!

He calls me 'Te. Short for "Ate." It has always pleased me that he was trained to call me "Ate" or 'older sister' because otherwise, we wouldn't remember who was born first. 'TE! Where are the car keys???? Te, wait for me! 'TE! Phone!

So I continue to listen to everything that's familiar yet all at once foreign. Beside me yet so faraway. His voice drifts into my ear like a dream; then dissolves into mumbles. Just like the sound of the Bart as it disappears down one of the streets in Frisco.