The impact separation has on an individual can affect them greatly at the beginning, because it can cause the individual to feel worried about being replaced, losing connection, and feeling lonely. In the excerpt, All My Puny Sorrows, the author focused on the separation of siblings, which is quite significant as they’ve experienced growing up and going through life together from the start. Building on every day, just like every note going from tenderness and peacefulness, to restless and yearning, being the separation an individual has to go through.
Yolandi who looked up to her sister, fears of being abandoned and replaced, from asking her sister how she was never coming back, to wanting to know who was going to be Elfrieda’s page-turner now that they will be separated as she is traveling away, meaning it most likely used to be Yolandis’ job. When you have a task that’s part of your daily life usually done with someone you treasure so much, it’s hard to imagine how when you are separated, that job you’ve been too accustomed to doing on a daily basis with so many memories will be taken over by another person.
Fear of losing connection is an emotion that can be experienced by an individual going through the impact of separation. In the story, we see that despite Elfriede’s’ strong image, she also is affected by the idea of being separated from her sister, by saying “No, Yoli. Please, you have to. I’m counting on you.” Being divided from each other meant that the letters they write for each other will be an important tie between them and their only connection when they are away from each other. Hence, cutting off that connection will make the sisters feel isolated and realize how much the letters were a source of comfort that reminded them no matter how apart they are from each other they are still close by that string linking them together.
I believe that siblings tend to be a source of support, encouragement, and a best friend for each other, which can surely develop emotions such as attachment, especially if there were moments of constantly being a source of comfort for each other when one was going through a hard time. When Yolandi expresses how she believed that she could die from a heartbreak to the degree that she wrote a secret will, it showed how attached she was to her older sister that she imagined she could truly die from the loneliness she’ll feel from being separated away from her sister. Being separated from a close and a treasured person is not easy, it can be lonely and it can cause the individual to yearn for the old memorable days. But I who had the experience of moving away from my family relatives back in the United Arab Emirates, know by experience that it only takes time, to adjust to the change. The first few days or even months might be hard to get by through but living in the 21st century, along with all the technology we have today, we can communicate with anyone, anywhere, and anytime, it only depends on the determination the individual has on keeping the connection together.