Where has the time gone? When did life just speed up so fast to bring us to this present day? Lately I have found myself looking back at the memories we have shared together as siblings. I think about the times we spent growing up and the strong bond we have formed over our lifetimes. Where are the days when we used to be in diapers and running around naked in our house? Where are the days when we were playing Barbie dolls, dress-ups, and building forts? Where did the days of our childhood go? These were the times spent fighting and pushing each other over a toy, pulling each other’s hair and leaving a few bite and scratch marks here and there. We sure did know how to show we loved each other.

Now I am grown up. I am older now. This is easy for me to bare. I am somewhat okay with the fact that I am growing up. But, to see the ‘kids’ I played with, laughed with, fought with, and cried to, growing up is a rather challenge. I may not be your mother, even though a lot of the times I acted like it, but I do share something so special with you that I know sometimes you didn’t understand. I am your older sibling. I always have your back. I am your rock, your shoulder and best of all your partner in crime.

While growing up, and still to this day, I feel obligated to be a role model. No, that does not mean that I want you to be the spitting image of me. And as a matter of fact, growing up it was absolutely not okay for mom to dress us up in the same matching outfits. I just want to try and set a good example for you. Does that mean I want to try and be perfect? No. I make mistakes, and you are aware of that because it is so great to point them out. Isn’t it? I want you to learn from my mistakes and failures so you don’t have to go through the same exact thing. I want you to have a better life. For the most part I lived that and have done that before you. I will always go through with it first. So please remember that I’m not trying to be a ‘know-it-all.” I just have experience. So don’t feel like you have to go through with college FAFSA’s, scholarship applications, job searching, or anything else all alone. I will always be there to help you along the way.

Seeing you take on responsibilities, go though struggles and challenges, and reach milestones in your life is a lot to handle, for both of us. Yes you are the one going through it and it can be somewhat overbearing, exciting, and a bit frightening. To be honest, it is for me too. You are practically like my kids, which just happen to be really close in age to me. When I say ‘kids’ I mean that I care about you so much, similar to the love a mother has for her children. So just like mom is having a hard time coping with her children getting older and growing up, I too feel that. Yes, I know that my feelings may have got the best of me when I almost cried at your graduation party. Well according to you, I did cry, however I would like to note that I was just tearing up. I just care so much about you. I’m going to be all mushy and say I love you. I am so proud to see you reach milestones. I am blessed to watch you do great things. I will always be the luckiest person to be able to call myself your big sister.

This growing up thing is catching up to all of us. In a few years life is probably going to take us all into different directions. We will not all live under the same roof like we do now. We may not even live in the same town. Life is full of surprises and the future is right in front of our hands now. We are all going to face challenge in our lives. We are going to have to take on more and more responsibilities. We are going to reach milestones at points in our lives. Even though we are growing up and becoming our own selves, let’s not handle life alone. We have been by each other’s side since day one and I am still glad to be by your side in some way. No matter where we are, who we are with or what we are doing, I will always be by your side.

You now know that I aspire to be a role model for you. I will always be by your side as we grow up and face the world head on. And now I want to say thank you. Thank you for the times we spent together. The all-nighters, staying up late and gambling each other’s belongings in a game of cards. Thank you for always keeping my secrets, even though you always held them against me to get what you wanted. For the times we spent producing our own handwritten plays, filming low-quality original films together, and holding wrestling matches in the living room. Thank you for always being there for me. Through the challenges of high school drama, and the stress of being the first in the family to go to college, you were always there whether you liked it or not. I couldn’t be any more grateful for this. You are more than just my siblings. You are my people, my best friends. Let’s face it, we are getting old. Life is now a lot different now than when we were just kids in elementary school. We may not be as young anymore but one thing can still stay the same, we can grow-up together. I will always be by your side on this unpredictable journey of life. Here’s to what the future has in store for us.

Yours truly,

Your second mom, your friend, your partner in crime… your sister