Usually, I don't write personally, but this might touch someone who is going through the same thing, whether they know it or not.
No one gave me headaches like my little sister.
Maybe it was just me, but she picked a nerve in a system that no one else could reach. We are four years apart in age, with me as the elder; but I am utterly convinced she's 16 going on 60. I couldn't stand her as a child. She always tried to be like me, always tried to go where I went and tried to hang who I hung with. I didn't understand! When I look back on it, all of the arguments we had stemmed from my frustration and irritability. I specifically remember one night having a physical altercation with her, over something so trivial. Our tension in a room became so high, that we didn't stay in the same area in the house.
Even though our relationship was not the best, I would never let anyone else mess with my sister. I had her back throughout anything. When someone had a problem with her, they had a problem with me.
When I started my first year of college, my sister was starting her first year of high school. Because my school is in South Carolina, I couldn't go home whenever I wanted. The only time I saw my little sister other than holidays, was on social media. Time was flashing before my eyes, and our relationship wasn't where it should have been. She was getting so big, making friends, going out, and slowly but surely becoming who she was meant to be. I missed her, arguments and all. I started reaching out to her, just to see how she was; just to get the red button. She always claimed to be so busy, and I felt like I lost her forever. Every time we talked, she was either on the phone with someone else, out with friends, or asleep.
It killed me knowing she was growing up without me, despite the fact that we weren't as close. I wanted to be the sister she could come to about anything: whether it was boys, girl drama, or her future in general. I made ridiculous mistakes as a child, and I really didn't want her to go through the same thing, especially if that one essence of stopping it from happening could be me.
My sister and I had a heart to heart conversation the following summer, where I expressed my concern about the jeopardy of our relationship. To this day I do not know if she honestly understood everything I said, but I vowed to myself to never allow my pride or lack of patience to affect my relationship. Tyra, to this day, is one of my best friends.
Usually, I don't write personally, but this might touch someone who is going through the same thing, whether they know it or not.
