There is no bond like the one between siblings, and my bond with mine is very hard to compete with.

Let me give you the breakdown of the sibling squad: we have Rachel who is the eldest, Daniel who is stuck in the middle, and little ole me the baby of the three. It has taken us to get into our adult years but we have finally mastered true friendship and it only took me all of last week to figure it out.

Siblings are the friends you don’t get to choose and some siblings choose not to be friends at all. Mine on the other hand have been like the extra set of parents that I was so luckily gifted. And for the longest time I saw them as that: an extra set of parents which do not get me wrong I loved having that perspective because that is a lot of love and support.

However, the parent is more authoritative over your life while the sibling is more supportive. So yes, they did boss me around from the diaper age until about high school but it was all out of love and has made me a better person for it.

My sister Rachel taught me that I can be who I want to be and not who the world thinks I should be. She also doesn’t let me forget who I am and what I am capable of when I am feeling a bit lost. We are ten years apart so when The smell of tanning lotion takes me back to fun car rides in her white mustang.

And also the person who drove across town to take me to see Eclipse on its opening night. She always styled me for everything important as well as taught me how to dress myself. My mom never did our homework or projects for us ever, but somehow overnight my fourth-grade pumpkin of Lou Gehrig got a quick facelift so his nose was more realistic. My sister, what a gal.

My brother Daniel has taught me to lighten up and stop being so sensitive over life. Which for me was essential to growing up. Daniel and I always fought, we were the siblings who divided the backseat in half and you weren’t allowed to cross the line. Or the “I’m not touching you” game.

And then we were also the siblings who went on safaris and shot lasers out of the back of our mom’s van taking out any vehicle in our path. No matter the situation Daniel can always find a way to make it lighthearted. He is the reason I can joke along with people and not end in tears as I used to.

Through the years our relationship has evolved into a friendship and now I refer to us as a squad. Granted I have yet to be allowed back into the circle of trust, inside joke, but one day I’ll gain membership.

Now both of them have started their own families, and although we will always have the original trio I am excited to see the squad grow.