My sister and I are probably as different as two people can possibly be. We do not look like each other. We do not act like each other. I remember she once asked me if I thought we would be friends if we weren’t sisters. I told her of course we would be, but I think we both knew I was lying.

I love my sister, and I know she loves me. But I wonder if this familial bond is the only reason we may have developed a friendship. If the chances of us being sisters was as likely as us being friends. I have always heard people say opposites attract, but if that is true, why is it that we gravitate to people who are just like us? When in an unfamiliar environment, we search through the crowd for a sense of familiarity. Someone who looks like you, dresses like you, walks like you. Our subconscious looks for these shared traits because we are most comfortable with what we know best, ourselves.

That’s why I figure my sister and I would not be friends. However, despite our differences, she is the person who understands me best. She can see right through me, calling out all of my bullshit, keeping me in check. She knows exactly what buttons to push, setting me off in a fiery rage. But she is also the person who knows how to calm me down when I am stressed or panicked. And she sure as hell can make me laugh until I am in tears. She knows me inside and out.

We try to surround ourselves with people who are most like us. And since we know they are similar to us, we assume that we understand them, but that is not true. No matter how similar two people may be, they will never be the same. But this misconception in our minds forces us to think otherwise. I think my sister knows me so well because we are so different. It is easy to see and pinpoint certain traits in others when they are foreign to yourself. Only after looking past these differences do you begin to see the underlying similarities.

My sister and I may be different, but she is my best friend. Maybe it is because we have been under the same roof for long enough or maybe it is because we have been through a lot together, but she knows me better than anyone in this world. I am glad I have someone like her in my life. By chance we became sisters, but by choice, we are friends.