Aspen & Misty,

It's very difficult when you have such a strong bond with someone who goes off to college.

May I make a suggestion?? I am very close with my daughter Amy. I live in Michigan (have been here for a year) and she lives in CT. I miss her terribly.

What I did was I went out and bought a Mizpah Coin. It is a coin (comes in gold, silver, whatever) that is split in half. You wear one half and give your sister the other. I never take mine off. The coin has a saying "Lord, please watch over me and thee while we are away from one another."

I know it makes ME feel better. My daughter always wears hers too. Just a suggestion.

Another thing you might want to think about is getting a webcam. They're very inexpensive (around $25). This way you can not only e-mail each other, but also see each other on the monitor. That's how my daughter, my best friend, her two girls and I celebrated Christmas together. While we were opening our gifts on the webcam, we talked via cellphone.

I hope this helps. I know it's helped me a great deal. My daughter and all my friends are over 663 miles away. But having the webcam and Mizpah coin make it seem like they're right next door.

Cheer up and hang in there, okay?? The holidays are coming and your sister will be home again soon.

((((hugs))))))