I never thought this week would come. The week my best friend moved out of my house. It was his time to become an adult, but I didn’t want to accept it. I never wanted him to leave. I thought to myself what I am going to do without him? We did everything together. This past year, since I had just graduated middle school and became more mature, we had got over our brother/sister typical fighting stage. We became close as ever, closer than we’ve ever been.  It was Saturday, the day before he was leaving for college. We spent the whole day together.

We went to our favorite restaurant, Hot Table. Every time we went out to lunch or dinner together we would always choose Hot Table. As soon as I walked into Hot Table I would get an extreme whiff of buffalo chicken Paninis. I think my nose was automatically drawn to that smell because I would get a buffalo chicken panini every time I went. We were enjoying our last time going out to lunch together for a while. There were lots of laughs and smiles. I knew Joe was enjoying his last lunch with me because his smile never left is face. His smile with his big white teeth never failed to put a smile on my face.  We were talking about the best times we’ve had together like going to the gym, going out to get food, walking the dogs, and playing sports.

As we were pulling down the driveway on our way home from hot table, I saw my mom and dad walking out of the house with bins and bags of clothing. My facial expression went blank my smile suddenly turned to a frown and my laughs were no longer existent. I walked into the house with my head down, pouting, not saying a word to either of my parents. I saw my brother in the corner of my of eye with a blank look on his face as if he knew something was wrong with me. I stomped up the stairs to my room, went into my bed and pulled the covers over my face.
All I wanted was my brother to stay home. I knew I needed to accept the fact that he was moving on with his life and he was beyond excited. I wanted to be as happy as possible for him but I couldn’t seem to put a smile on my face every time I thought about him leaving. I was still lying in my bed thinking about the times I am going to miss my brother,  like when we go on runs, when we take the dogs to the park, going out to lunch, playing soccer, and getting help with my homework. He was the best brother a girl could ever ask for. He made me laugh until it felt like I had grown myself a pair of abs. I smiled from ear to ear every time I was with him and it never got old.
It was time for dinner and I had to finally come out of my room. I was walking down the stairs and my nose was immediately filled with the smell of my my moms homemade red sauce. It was our last dinner together as a whole family for a long time. I tried as hard as I could to put a smile on my face to make my brother happy. I could tell my mom was upset about Joe leaving because she had a different walk than normal. She would drag her feet on the ground and sway her arms very slowly. I could also tell my dad wasn’t taking Joe leaving easy because he wasn’t as outgoing as he usually is.  Most of he tine my dad would is talkative and always puts my family in the best mood, but he wasn’t like that at dinner. I hope Joe didn’t noticed what I noticed in my parents because that would just make things harder on him. I tried as hard as I could to keep a cheerful mood so he wouldn’t feel sad.
After dinner my family and I all watched a movie. It was our favorite movie of all time, “The Blind Side”. I was cuddled up in my favorite blanket; it felt as soft as a newly groomed puppy. My brother got me a big bowl of chocolate ice cream. It was my favorite kind of ice cream. We all sat on the couches in the living room by the warm fire. It had gotten late and I got myself ready for bed. I couldn’t seem to fall asleep because I was thinking about saying goodbye to my brother tomorrow. I finally fell asleep after a good hour of drowning myself in my own thoughts.

I woke up with a frown on my face knowing it was time to say goodbye. I came downstairs and saw that my brother had made breakfast for the whole family. Bacon and blueberry pancakes filled my nose. The moment we put the food in our mouths everyone went “mmmm”. The warm fluffy feeling of the pancakes put my stomach at ease. 

It was time to pack up my parent’s car full of Joes stuff for college. I could feel the emotional vibe that my family had while packing.  My mom carried the last of Joes clothes to the car with her head down trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. My parents didn’t want to let go of their first child. Everything was packed and I had to give him my last hug goodbye. I immediately broke down in tears and collapsed into his arms. Joe had a distinct smell to him, the smell of his colon. I never wanted to let go it was like losing a part of me. He got in the car and I watched them leave all the way up the driveway never losing sight of Joe. He gave one last wave goodbye with a smirk on his face.  Even though Joe was thrilled to be moving on with his life, it was going to be hard for me get used to not being with my best friend every day.