“Hold her hand.”

I heard this a lot growing up. I am the oldest of three girls; therefore, it was my job. Usually, I complied without hesitation. Sometimes, I did so reluctantly. Other times, I flat out refused. But most of the time, I took the hands of my little sisters. That’s what sisters do.

I always thought of hand-holding as temporary; that is, it ends once the two people are apart. If this is the case, I don’t hold my sisters’ hands anymore. We live in different states, and even when we are together, we don’t walk around hand-in-hand.

Even though we don't hold hands anymore, I'm still their sister. That will never change. That is why there is more to hand-holding than we realized. By holding hands, we created a relationship that will live with us forever.

Sisters guide each other.

When we were younger, we held hands to lead each other in the right direction -- whether it was to the right classroom on the first day of school or the right aisle in the grocery store. Today, we still guide each other. We might not be holding hands, but we still guide each other through advice and support. Moving forward, we'll always be there for each other.

Sisters protect each other.

We walked hand-in-hand in the street, making sure we made it across safely. In moments of fear, we held hands to remind each other we were still there. That protection hasn't died. We want each other to be safe. When one of us is hurt, upset, or scared, we are there to help. We are each other's greatest gifts, so we protect each other.

Sisters support each other.

Growing up, there was always a hand to grab. Sometimes we reached for a hand climbing up the slide, and other times we reached for a hand to help us up off the ground. That hand is still extended. Sisters are always there to help. We always give each other that extra pull to get us where we need to go. When we need support, we know who to count on.

Hand-holding isn’t temporary -- it’s permanent. From the moment we first locked fingers, we forged an unbreakable connection. It became a promise to guide, protect, and support each other for the rest of our lives. We created a special bond that would continue once we let go.

But that’s the thing about sisters -- we never really let go.