Let me start off by saying I hated my big brother growing up. Okay, maybe I didn’t actually hate him, but we fought CONSTANTLY. We were continually mean to each other growing up, but eventually that all changed. I’m not sure when, but it did. In grade school we were little sidekicks getting in to all sorts of shenanigans and trouble. In high school we pushed away from each other because… well you know: life. In college I began to realize how much I loved my big brother.

My brother and I are less than 13 months apart. He was a year above me in school, and my friends were his and vice versa. We never got along because we were so close in age. College came, and being apart changed things. One day everything was just different. There was not one single moment where I realized how much my brother meant to me. There was no defining moment where I thought “Wow, my brother is the best.” As time went on, and both of us started our own journeys into adulthood, things just seemed to change. That is when I realized how much my brother has influenced me.

My older brother taught me so many lessons from riding a bike and shooting a hockey puck to never opening my heart to someone who doesn’t deserve it. He protected me from guys and all of the bad things in the world. He loved me unconditionally. He was the father figure in my life because he had no other choice but to be just that. Now I realize half of the time he told me to “go kick rocks” to keep me away from making horrible decisions. To keep me away from the bad in the world.

I have no idea who I would be at this moment without my big brother. He shaped me in to the person I am today, and even though he does not know it, he continually influences me on a daily basis. I look up to him more than anyone in this world.

So, to my big brother: THANK YOU.

Thank you for every single thing you have done for me. Thank you for every single moment you were there to protect me. Thank you for making me one hell of a person. Thanks for passing on your strength and toughness. Thank you for teaching me to always be kind and love those around me. Thank you for bullying all of the boys away growing up. Thank you for keeping me on a path to success. Thank you for being my role model, my right-hand partner to causing trouble, my best friend growing up, and my big brother. You will NEVER know how much you mean to me, and hopefully one day you realize how much you have influenced me. I am the proudest girl in the world knowing I am your little sister.

So, to my big brother: I love you... to the moon and back.