Dear Big Sis,

Well, you’ve been busy lately, being a grownup and all. It’s crazy how quickly time has passed by for us. It seems like just yesterday I was 9 years old and we were dropping you off at college for your freshman year. I still remember that tiny, cramped room with cinderblock walls; we brought a few pictures and posters in an attempt to make it more homely. I remember looking around at all the college students yelling greetings to each other in the hallway and thinking wow, they are all so old. But most of all, I remember saying our goodbyes with tear-filled eyes as you started that new chapter in your life.

It might have seemed like yesterday, but that’s the illusion of time at its finest. Because now it’s me starting my second year of college, while you have your own home, a husband, and a job. And finally it’s hit me, after 10 years, just how strong and capable of an individual you are.

You have always been my role model, there is doubt about that. As much as you hate me saying it, you’re like my second mother. From day 1, you dropped everything to take care of me. You were the best (and most inexpensive) babysitter mom and dad could’ve have asked for. At just 9 years old you were helping mom bottle feed me. Even at such a young tender age you would change my diapers, painstakingly attempt to feed me, and tuck me into bed. And this was just the beginning. Whenever disaster struck, whenever I felt like the world was crashing down, you were there beside me through it all. And boy, did we go through some rough times together. When Typhoon Pongsona struck Guam and flooded the first 2 floors of our home, it was you who held my quivering body and tried to calm me down. You were only 14 years old, but you shouldered such huge responsibilities.

Our family has moved all around the world, and most of it was during your adolescent years. Never did it occur to me (until now) how hard that must have been for you. You seemed to be more preoccupied with making sure that I was well adjusted. I guess that’s why I never really appreciated just how much you took upon yourself; you never really gave me the chance to. To me, you were indestructible and incapable of any faults. You were (and still are) my superhero, you have saved my life in more ways imaginable. But sometimes, I have to force myself to remember that you are in fact human. And as a human being, you too face fears, insecurities, and hurdles. So as much I fight with you and yell and scream, I know that whatever lectures you have given me were with the best of intentions.

How you got through college by yourself without an older sibling to look up to, I will never understand. You paved the way for me and for that I am eternally grateful. And even though we are hundreds of miles apart, I know you are still there with me every step of the way.

So thank you for being more than just an older sister. Thank you for being my mentor, a mother figure, my confidant, and my partner-in-crime. Thank you for being my best friend.

Love always,

Your favorite/only youngest sister