The Same but Different

My sister came home from Germany last night. And today, my husband and I are staying at my parents' so that we can spend the most time with her while she's here.

I'm back here in the subdivision where I lived for 11 years. I saw some of the same people, some new.

And that's how people are: we change, yet also stay the same. We pick up new habits and keep some old ones. We grow and our values might evolve, but the core of who we are stays the same. We keep the roots.

My sister talks the same way, laughs the same, walks the same. But she's also different, in a way. She packs her things differently now, having learned to maximize her luggage space. She probably has a wider perspective, having gone to more places than before, met new people, collected different experiences. She has grown more responsible, having lived alone for many years abroad.

We grow. We change. And yet, we remain the same.