Dear Little Sister,

From the moment I met you, I've always felt the strongest connection to you. Okay, maybe not the first moment I met you. You and I both know better than anyone that we didn't like each other at all when we first met. But, when you're the only two girls on a camping trip filled with boys who like bugs, burning dead birds, and running through the mud, you find that you bond quickly. Although we might not share the same DNA, we have been mistaken for sisters since the beginning of our friendship. I'm thankful that people constantly asked us if we were related, because I think it really solidified in my mind that you are my sister, blood or not.

As most sisters do, we've had our ups and downs. I remember times when we wouldn't talk to each other for months because of something stupid that had happened. But through everything in our past almost 12 years of our friendship, we've grown stronger every single day. I'm glad that now our friendship can withstand us not talking for long periods of time, because we have the ability to go right back to being as close as ever when we see each other again.

I remember when we began to get closer during my senior year of high school. Those few months of laughing and making memories are some of our best moments as friends, which made going off to college so much harder for me. Even though there were 300 miles between us, I always felt like you were still right next to me making jokes and burping loudly. When I came home, I spent every waking moment with you it seemed. From spontaneous trips to San Francisco, to helping you pick out your prom dress, those few months were what kept me going after coming home from college.

And then summer came and with it our annual family trip to Oregon. Since we've started taking camping trips, our trips to Oregon have always been the best. From spending endless summer days on the dock to laughing until we cried while at the zoo to telling stupid jokes until 1 AM in the loft, Oregon is our place. This past summer there was something magical about it though. The moments we spent dipping our toes in the lake seemed never ending and the day trip we took to visit our dream college was one of the best. And when we left and learned their would be no more summers cannon balling into he lake or taking jet boat rides down the Rogue River or time spent in our loft laughing into the early hours of the morning, it hurt but we had each other.

I told you this story recently, the moment I knew that you and I would be stuck together forever. It happened on the same Oregon trip, you waking up before me for the first time in our friendship and me sleepily trudging down the ladder that connected the loft and the kitchen. I immediately went to make myself an English muffin, just as I had for the past five days of our trip. As I searching high and low, I only found an empty box of English muffins. And to my sweet surprise, I turned around and you handed me a toasted and buttered English muffin, the last one that you had saved for me so that the rowdy boys that had cemented our friendship together wouldn't steal it.

Something in the quiet of that morning and the crazy day that followed it, I realized that no matter where our lives went, you would always be my sister.

And now here we are! You're going to graduate high school in a few months and our lives will once again begin to twist and turn until we're further apart than we could have thought. I almost cried as I walked with you for your basketball Senior Night, my throat raw from screaming your name as you played, even if only for a little bit. I can't imagine what will happen at your graduation.

I hope that through the rest of our lives, no matter what happens between us, that you'll always remember that the little girls with the bad haircuts and a heart for adventure are now two bold young women who are ready to face the world together. I love you sissy.

Love,

Your Big Sister