My cousin Sarah and I have always had a different relationship. We were born 3 months apart, which makes her the youngest. Sarah has always been the tomboy. She loves sports! Mainly softball, but she’s always been so active in other things as well. Me, on the other hand, I was active but in competition cheer and dance. I wore dresses and makeup. I’m definitely the girly one out of the two of us.
Our grandmother used to always say, “I don’t know how these two get along so well. They’re complete opposites and they’re like best friends”. Growing up, we were attached at the hip. We went to our first concert together (Britney Spears), went on vacations together, sleep overs, etc. We were always each other’s “plus one”. We grew up on opposite sides of town, but that didn’t matter.
Mine and Sarah’s relationship never skipped a beat. We can go months without talking, and it doesn’t affect us at all. Most of the time we have family functions, we take a walk just to catch up on each other’s life. We’ve shared our deepest secrets with each other, and I found out she’s the only one I can truly trust. Those are some of my favorite memories.
Our relationship hasn’t been all butterflies and rainbows. Although we have never had a disagreement, we’ve been through hard times together. I guess the good thing about being cousins, is we already know each other’s underlying issues. At a young age, we were there for each other. We were each other’s shoulder to cry on, and each other’s back bone. We have so much respect for each other, and it’s because we know how far we’ve come. To me, whether it was my problem or hers, we went through it together.
Sarah has always had this certain drive. Once she sets her mind to something, that’s it. That’s what she was going to do. A couple years ago, she made her decision to enlist in the military. I’ve watched her go from one extreme to another. From being injured to having foot surgery and switching from Air Force to Army. She has overcome every obstacle thrown her way. Now, all her hard work has paid off and she’s shipping out to basic on August 8th. I couldn’t be more proud of her.
Sarah, I have a lot of mixed emotions right now. You’ve waited a long time for this moment and I couldn’t be more proud of you and how hard you’ve worked for this. You have always been my number one supporter, and now it's my turn to be here for you. I don't know what I’m going to do without my best friend, but it looks like I’ll have to manage. I love you so much Sar-Bear. If anyone deserves this, it’s you.
“We weren’t sisters at birth, but we knew from the start. We were put on this Earth to be sisters at heart”
