A six year gap between siblings is pretty big. When my parents told my brother and I that we were going to have another baby coming into the family, I was ecstatic. I was going to have my own real life baby doll to play with instead of using the fake ones. I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was when I found out it was going to be a girl to top it off.

From day one my sister was mine. I held her to pose in every picture. I read to her when she still probably had no idea what I was even saying. I brought her downstairs in the morning when she woke up and helped her change into a new pull-up. She was my guest star on all of my fake talk shows. My sister was my mini me.

As we grew up, it became quite evident that we all had a character on our hands. My sister was always the funny, cute, tutu-wearing girl that made everyone laugh. She even developed her own nickname that would be known town-wide by the time she reached school age. Our house was full of constant humor because of this little girl.

Although there will always be that one best friend who feels more like a sister than a friend, no one will ever replace an actual sister. There is no one else I would rather have help zip up one hundred different prom dresses while shopping for the perfect one. No one else would be quite as brutally honest with me about whether or not my double chin really does look bad in my latest Instagram post. There is certainly no other person I would willingly allow to go through my bureau drawers loudly at 6 am before school, searching for the perfect outfit. There is no one else I could be ready to kill one minute and curling her hair the next, not phased.

Over the years, my sister has transformed from a cabbage patch looking doll into a tall, slim, beautiful young lady. She is now a solid five inches taller than me and puts my high school volleyball career to shame. She continues to be hysterical, of course, and she makes people smile or laugh wherever she goes. She is kind, empathetic, thoughtful and intelligent. It is absolutely mind blowing how much can change yet stay the same as time goes by.