Growing up, some people are blessed with siblings as good as they can get. They get along and care about each other's well-being. They share and grow together. They're best friends from birth.
That's not at all what my sister and I are like, but I still wouldn't trade her for anything in the world. And here's why.
1. SHE UNDERSTANDS MY SENSE OF HUMOR
Like no one else ever could, my sister has grown up with me, so she understands my sarcastic and sometimes dry sense of humor. She is funny herself, too, and when we get laughing it's nearly impossible for us to stop. Add in some chocolate--which somehow always goes straight to her head--and we will be entertained for hours.
2. SHE HELPS ME WITH MY PROBLEMS, BIG OR SMALL
As the older sister, she is normally seen as the wiser one. And if I need anything from a simple phone conversation to help with a project, I know she's always there for me. She will spend hours with me on the phone, just trying to figure something out with me and won't complain that I'm interrupting her day. We've had a lot of the same experiences and gone through a lot of the same things, too, so when I need someone to talk to, I know she will at least point me in the right direction.
3. SHE IS ADORABLY QUIRKY
Oh, all the video projects I have had to help her with through the years. Each one somehow beating the last in the amount of laughter involved in their creation. Sometimes even she doesn't know how crazy she is until I point out that she's wearing a red wig and my blue polka-dot dress for a german project about nonsense. Don't even get me started on her two left feet and naive false sense of rhythm. She pulls it off, though. Somehow.
4. WE FIGHT A LOT
Some people might think this is a negative, and trust me, adding this may come back to haunt me, but it's also a positive. It is better to let things out than keep them in. When we fight it's like getting rid of all the bad stuff between us--though some of it does pop up more than once--and I truly think that all healthy relationships and friendships need fights. You can't be honest and as close as you could be with someone if you hide or bottle away your true feelings toward them. So if we have a fight over that blue sweater that's always been mine but she suddenly claims I stole from her, I guess it's good. Because it means we love each other. I think.
5. SHE IS AS PROUD OF ME AS I AM OF HER
It is one thing to love your sister. It is another thing entirely to be proud of them and to believe in them too. I know that every day I look up to my sister--theoretically, though, because she's a short little thing--and I am always thankful she is there. I love my sister and I am so proud of everything she is able to accomplish.
And with her two left feet, her giggly chocolate highs, her crazy inhuman ability to tackle me even though she's barely above five feet tall, my sister is one of the greatest gifts my life has given me, and I wouldn't trade her for the world.
