It’s hard to believe that you’re graduating already. Where has the time gone? One day we are 7 and 5 years old fighting over toys and what movie we are going to watch in the car. Now we’re 19 and 17 years old, in college and graduating high school. Time truly flies when you’re having fun.

I remember all of the trips to the lake house and how we would listen to 70s, 80s, and 90s music. I think we know more of the old school music that our parents grew up listening to than the 21st-century music that all of our friends know and sing. The trips to Houston and St. Louis to see the Cardinals and Astros play, and the time we went to SeaWorld and I cried on a roller coaster (it took us backwards too fast for my personal liking) are forever engraved in my mind not just because of how fun it all was but also because of how much we fought too.

You are the only person who has driven me crazy yet kept me sane over the last seventeen years. There have been times that we have hated each other to the point of not wanting to ever see or talk to the other ever again. Now it’s a different story. These days we don’t fight about the TV or the toys. We fight about the fact you should come to the same college that I’m at or that you need to just swear off girls so you stay my innocent, little brother forever.

If we could do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. I would probably just watch and laugh because I know how every fight ends and what promises we make. I would still walk you to Mrs. May’s first-grade classroom when you were scared of getting in trouble because you wore a basketball jersey that was sleeveless. I would still cry at daycare when you fell and busted your head and had to get staples. I would still make sure that only I got to give you a hard time and no one else because if someone messes with my little brothers, then they mess with me.

There were things you did growing up you may not remember that have left a huge impact on my life. I still have the horse necklace you got for me at Cracker Barrel when we were little. I have every drawing you have given me. I have the card you made in the car for my 16th birthday in my dresser and when I get low or upset I read it and remember how blessed I am to have you in life. You have made me cry tears of joy, pain, relief, and pride. I wouldn’t trade a single moment with you for the world.

So as you walk across the stage to accept your high school diploma I hope you know that I am so proud of you. You are one of the best things that ever happened to me and by far one of the biggest blessings in my life. You are loved more than you know. Thank you for being my best friend over the last seventeen years. Congrats on your big day. Enjoy it because you deserve it.

Love,

The big sister you never asked for.