Justin Henry – where do I begin?

Growing up with a brother who is two and a half years younger than I am I assumed a few things: for one, I would always be the annoying older sister and two, I would always be stronger than that punk. As I got older however, I soon realized that while I was always annoying (and probably still am), I most definitely was not stronger. I really thought I had it in the bag though. I mean, come on, I’m over two years older, and my brother Justin, he’s just a dweeb. I could easily take him down, right? HA! Wrong. That strength that he apparently came out of the womb with pretty much defined the first few years of our relationship. We hit, punched, kicked, smacked and inflicted pain on each other in any way we could until I ended up in hysterics and he walked away in laughter. I will admit that we were equally as brutal to each other; he just got the better gene and was able to one-up me. Justin and I luckily got out of the WWE phase of our relationship and were able to be civil. In fact, we even got the privilege to sit in the same row of the car (yes, it was so bad we had to be separated).

We stayed in our civil, minimal-interaction relationship for a few years until I was in sixth grade and Justin was in fourth. I was the oldest in the school and obviously I thought I ruled the place. Somehow me ruling the place equaled me making the biggest deal out of seeing my brother, which, as you can imagine, he just totally loved. That year we bickered quite a lot and I spent as much time as I could being up his butt as he tried running away as fast as he could.

When I was in seventh grade, however, Justin and I finally started having that “sibling” relationship that my parents had always hoped, prayed, and probably even dreamed of. I was going through things medically and was in and out of the hospital. It was during this time that I realized how much more than a dweeb Justin was. He was caring and sweet and did indeed have a place in his heart for me.

While I will stop with the ooey-gooey emotions before I make you all sick, I just want to say thank you for all your love and support when I needed it. After the difficulties of that year, our relationship had changed and definitely for the better. Nothing major occurred over the next few years because first it was my turn to be awkward in middle school and then it was his. We took some ugly holiday cards and made a few memories but nothing overwhelming.

Then, high school hit – and remember how I thought I ruled the school in sixth grade and he wanted nothing to do with me? Well, it just so happened that since I was a junior and I was able to drive to school, the tables had turned and Justin thought I ruled the school. While I would have had to be an idiot to claim I ruled the school as a junior, it did feel pretty cool to get that respect from him. From his freshman year and on, our relationship grew and we continued to get closer – especially during his sophomore year, when his friends always seemed to come over when my friends were there…hm. However, in all reality, I couldn’t ask for a better brother – we bond over the secrets we hide from our parents, I yell at him for never thinking and he yells at me for overthinking. Plus, we always come together when getting Chipotle for dinner or hitting up the diner for breakfast (if and only if it’s on mom's credit card, of course)!

So, thank you, Justin, for being just the way you are. I’ll always be the AWolf to your JWolf (and yes, that nickname was mine first). Love you always.