My brother and I are four years apart. We grew up in the same house until I was 12 and he was 16, so we were together for quite a few years.

When we lived together, we fought constantly. I was always that annoying little sister that followed her big brother around no matter what. Whenever he was going out to see his friends, I wanted to be there, too.

Of course, that got on his nerves. Plus I was that little sister that was always whining about whatever was going on. I was too hot, too bored, hungry, whatever. I always followed him, but it was really just to bug the crap out of him.

Even though I complained a lot, I still think about all the times we went fishing or rode dirt bikes and four wheelers around the neighborhood. Those days are some of my favorite memory because when my brother moved to live with our dad, we stopped talking.

We hardly ever talked and didn't have much of a relationship until about 2 years ago. So for just about 8 years, I was pretty much an only child.

I didn't have the overprotective brother who would try to scare off my boyfriends or dates for dances. I didn't have the person I could run to if I needed help getting out of trouble. If I had asked, there's no doubt in my mind he would've been there for me, but neither one of us really reached out to the other.

We didn't grow up as normal siblings, but as we've gotten older and started living our own lives, we've started reconnecting and re-establishing the relationship and friendship we had when we were kids.

While we don't talk all the time, we see each other way more than we used to and connect more now that we're older. While I may have missed some years, it's nice to have my brother in my life again even if we're not as close as we used to be.