April 11, 1997. This was the day I met my brother Stewart, or more so, he met me. My brother was 3-years-old at the time. Most little kids are apathetic to the thought of welcoming a new baby brother or sister to the family, but Stewart was as excited as a little boy could possibly be about the thought of having a little sister join the family.
Fast forward a couple years and it’s 2002. My first year of "big girl" school... kindergarten. Now, most 5 year olds see the doors to the kindergarten hallway and immediately are unsettled with the fact that they aren’t going to be with their mom or dad anymore. But me, I jumped right out of the car saying goodbye to my mom like I had been dropped off at school a hundred times before. It was different for me because I knew my big brother was right down the hall and, even at age 5, I knew he had my back. 2002 was also the year my other soon-to-be best friend was announced, but we’ll get back to that later.
The next couple years with my brother are what I like to call “The Poke-Potter Era.” My days were spent sitting on a bean bag chair watching him play Pokemon on the Nintendo 64, which then transitioned into Harry Potter video games on the PS2. Before I knew it, my brother was packing for college—Elon University. I knew he was ready to get out of town and experience the college life, but I wasn’t ready for him to go. I drove up with him with the car packed and on the way to Elon. The car ride was filled with dramatic sing alongs to Queen, songs from the Broadway show Wicked, throwback jams from the 2000s, and everything in between. I knew those would be the moments I missed the most. He still doesn’t know this, but I definitely cried a river on the way back home.
Let’s talk about my baby sister for a little bit. Sarah was born June 5th, 2003 at 10:09 AM. I was 6-years-old at the time and I was ready to have a real life baby doll. The morning she was born, I remember eating Lucky Charms in the hospital cafeteria and having Complicated by Avril Lavigne playing over and over on my Mom’s portable CD player. As Sarah went from a newborn to a toddler, I could already see her personality forming. She was the sweetest trouble maker I had ever seen. She would be only two years-old and somehow she’d find a way to convince my Mom and Dad that Stewart and I were the culprits for the huge mess in the playroom.
When Sarah turned three, she began dancing at the same ballet school as I did. We started doing shows at home where we would sing and dance. At age four, she knew every single word to “I Can Hear The Bells” from Hairspray (except the french kissing part, I told her they said skipping). I think we probably watched that movie a total of 200 times together.
Before long, she was in middle school, only a couple inches shorter than me, and obsessing over 5 Seconds of Summer...much like I did over One Direction. She was doing The Nutcracker every December just like I did, and it made me proud to see her being passionate about something just like I was.
Now, she’s in her last year of middle school and I can no longer deny that she is taller than me. My brother has just graduated Elon, and I could not be prouder. The Harry Potter games have changed into binge watching a whole season of New Girl in two days and reciting every line of Hairspray has turned into impersonating Miranda Sings until it drives everyone around us crazy. We’re all getting older and facing new challenges everyday. Soon, I’m going to have to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life and that terrifies me. But I know that no matter what, I will always have my big bro and my baby sis by my side and I am forever grateful that they are my best friends.
