Hey sis,

I have never taken the time to thank you for all you have done for me, so here it goes:

I know I am a handful. We spent our early years arguing over all the stupid little things that siblings fight over. You hated that I wanted to be around you and your friends all the time while I used to scream at you for picking at my food. Looking back, it seems as though the times we argued outweigh those when we laughed until we couldn't breathe(something I was notorious for). However, the ones engrained in my memory when I think about us are the latter.

I'm sorry I followed you around like a noisy shadow, it was just because I thought you were so cool. I apologize for not giving you credit for the innocent secrets you kept from our parents(that seemed so grandiose in the moment), for keeping me out of trouble, for all the times you held me close while I cried. I appreciate your pity laughs at my non-stop knock-knock jokes and letting me pretend I was allergic to fish at dinner.

With ten years between us, you were essentially the third parent--the fun one. The person I went to when he broke my heart in sixth grade and whenever I hit a new confusing stage in my life. Our age difference was just enough to validate your authority while having experienced what I was going through just a few short years before.

There is no denying that life has thrown is for a few loops, and this coaster would had flown off the tracks without you to ground me.

In your college years, you still took me under your wing. We laughed at those who asked if I was your daughter with judgement on their faces. You showed me your cool, fun college life. Everything you were in those moments is everything I had hoped to become some day.

I used to wonder where would be at different milestones in our lives- 30 and 40, 40 and 50, 70 and 80. Even at such a young age, I knew that you would always be by my side. You would always be my go-to for my entire life. I don't know where I would be in life without your experience from mistakes to guide me straight. And now, at 20 and 30, we have a relationship that surpasses what I dreamt about all those years ago.

While you and I have grown into two different people all these years later, you are still my role model as you always have been. You inspire me every day. Nobody can get me to open up or steer me into bettering my life with gentle kindness as you can.

So, thank you. Thank you for all you have done for me. For molding me. For guiding me. For never failing to be there for me.