Dear Brother,

We haven't always gotten along. In fact, we rarely have gotten along at all. We fight over stupid things and sometimes consider murdering each other ... or, at least, locking the other out of the house without a key. We have been told multiple times to just get along and still when our parents hear us talking they first assume we are arguing (we sometimes aren't) and tell us to just stop for five minutes. I know we have both wished at multiple times in our life that we were an only child. Don't deny it, I have heard you. You are also no help with some things, like clothes. If I come to ask you how something looks you just tell me you don't know. Thanks bro, you could just lie to me and said "Great." But no, you have to go with the least helpful answer on the planet even though I always give you my opinion when you ask.

But we do love each other. We understand each other better than most and we can tell each other things that we can't even tell our best friends. When it comes down to it we are there for one another and will do anything we can to help. If someone hurts you, I hurt them. (Remember that time I chewed out over what he said?) If someone hurts me, you usually threaten to kill them. And I usually stop you with saying it's no big deal. I can come to you with just about anything. You are the first person I will come to for an opinion because yours will definitely be the most honest albeit brutally so. As long as that opinion isn't on fashion advice.

We are sometimes so much alike it kills me. We think alike with almost the same sense of humor. Though yours is sometimes much darker and inappropriate, leading me to believe that I created a monster. If we need to vent we can vent to each other because we usually share the same opinion. You have also often been my partner in crime who went to sneak candy out of the store room and randomly brought home a kitten. You are a miniature, more evil, male version of myself.

With all of this being said, I want to congratulate you on the man you have become. I have watched you grow up and change for the better. I am so proud of you for your decision to join the navy and though I will definitely miss you more than I can express while you're gone, I know it is what you want to do. You have always been a role model for me even though sometimes I should've been a better one for you. Thank you for the nights of movies and video games, for the random trips to the mall just so we could get out of the house, and for everything you have taught me along the way. You are the best brother in the world though sometimes I might have said otherwise. I am so proud and will always be proud to call you my brother. I love you and always will, even though I don't tell you that enough.