Leaving home to come back to school is never easy, and I often feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with my siblings. I feel more guilty about not spending more time with my younger sister than with my older brother because she's so young and eager to spend time together. (Plus, my brother never wants to spend time with me anyways.) Sometimes I prioritize the wrong things in the moment, and I regret it all the time. Despite my errors, I love my little sister. She's a ball of sunshine and a menacing thunderstorm all in one little body, and even though I'm crabby to her a lot, she is my favorite person.

So to the best dancer to the Moana soundtrack, the loudest singer, and the kindest seven-year-old, I love you. I never say it, but I appreciate so much about you and what you do. Thank you for coming to me when you get scared so I can hug you for as long as humanly possible, for playing the memory card game with me even though you were over it after the first four rounds, and for all of the silly pictures we took together. Those are some of my most precious memories I have, and it only fuels me when I think about making more of those memories. I know I always seem inconvenienced when you ask me to make you a million items out of cardboard and tape, but I really do love spending that time with you. I enjoy the weird-crafty activities we do together, such as holding fake dancing competitions where I'm the judge and you're all five contestants, making food out of play dough and then leaving it to dry so you can use it when you play with your Littlest Pet Shops, and the occasional origami-session.

I have such high hopes for you when you get older. I hope you continue to laugh unapologetically and as much as you can. I hope you continue learning in school and cherish the beauty of education, even when the subjects you aren't fond of are especially difficult. I hope you find friends who lift you up both in front of you and behind your back, who never make you feel like the words you say are unnecessary, and who help you grow into a bigger version of the kind, little human you are. Though I doubt myself often, I know that even the worst will pass when I see your smiling face. When I am in need of strength, I look at you and suddenly some of the weight of college and the future are lifted. Mostly, though, I hope you are happy, whether it comes to you naturally or you have to claw your way through barriers to get it. I am arguably the proudest big sister in the world, and I miss you so much already. (It's been less than a week since I left, but still.)

Keep smiling and enjoying childhood because it flies by faster than you think it will. I am so happy and excited to see you in a few months, and this time, I promise I'll be a little less crabby.