Dear Eternally Aggravating Brother,

Don't worry, I meant that greeting in the most loving way possible. You do have to admit, though...it's true. I get it now; you had a job to do: drive your little sister insane. Makes sense now that I am an older sibling.

Actually, now that I am older a lot of things about our childhood are starting to make sense, like how much of an impact you have had in the developmental process of who I am today. I never thought as a kid that all the joking, teasing, and pushing around would teach me something, much less make me thank you, but life surprises us all.

Thank you for being rough with me.

Of course, I did not appreciate it when I was younger, but even then I knew somewhere deep down that I was having a ton of fun. On the surface, though, I was only provoking you. I mean, as much as it is in your title of Older Brother to push me around, it is also my job as Little Sister to annoy you to the edge of the earth.

Surprisingly enough, you farting and holding my face under the covers so that I would get the full effect of your nose hair dissolving gas, or tossing me over your shoulder before WWE throwing me into the pool actually taught me something. Maybe this was all a part of your master plan or maybe you are just an unintentional life coach, but you taught me to never take crap from anybody. You taught me to stand up for myself and always pull my own weight. Of course, they were just games and us messing around, but growing up as a scrawny girl next to a gargantuan brother like you made me learn how to defend myself quick. It wasn't easy, but I will forever be grateful for growing up knowing how to play dirty.

Thank you for fulfilling your brotherly duties.

You always told me you were good at figuring out a person, and I never believed you until you were right about friends and boyfriends who did me wrong. I always assumed that when you didn't like one of my boyfriends, you were just being mean. I always found out soon after that you saw a darkness inside them that I couldn't see.

I have always prided myself in being able to stand up for myself and not letting anybody get to me, but you were always right behind me in case I fell. When the good in people ran out or boys would try to take advantage of me, you were always right there to set them straight. Now that I am older I can only hope that you approve of those who I choose to surround myself with because it's important to me to know that my big brother sees the same good in them that I do.

Thank you for always being my friend.

Years may have separated us in age and maturity, but you have never stopped being the person I could always come to, the person who I could play games with all day every day, the person who would take me on car rides just to scream out our favorite songs with the windows down, the person who carved our names into the trees we used to climb as castles, and above all, the person who never stopped loving me even when I grew up and left our hometown behind. As adults, we are even more close than we were as kids, and our friendship has only gotten better with age.

So, yes, as the Little Sister whose only purpose as a kid was to annoy you, I have much to thank you for being the Older Brother who pushed me around. We've matured since those days of you teaching me one on one sports and accidentally (hopefully?) hitting me with a baseball, and can now bond over adult subjects like taxes or something. Admittedly, we will both always be kids at heart, and I will forever be learning from you.

With love and with my tongue forever stuck out in childlike frustration,

Your Annoying Little Sister