Having a sister who's only a few years younger than you means you have grown up doing everything together. You probably shared a room at some point in your life, where you started the tradition of sharing — and fighting over — each other’s belongings. At first, the arguments may have been over Barbie dolls and ballgowns, but at some point, you grew up and toys turned into clothes: everything from socks and shoes to your favorite pair of jeans.

The room you shared was constantly being moved around. There were days when you slept in the same bed and others when, you being fed up with your sister, would drag your bed to the other side of the room and draw a line across the middle of the floor. “This is my side,” you would say, as you turned your back to the wall and ignored each other. The next night, your mom would catch you reading stories together, as if your fight the day before had never even occurred.

You’ve worn matching outfits put together by your mom and as you got a little bit older, you may have even attempted to match each other on purpose — or worse. You would already be dressed and your sister would come downstairs wearing the same outfit you had been wearing for fifteen minutes. Oh, the horror.

You’ve spent hours snuggled up on snow days together, watching movie after movie and eating gallons of microwave popcorn. You’ve gone through the awkward phases of braces and glasses together and made fun of each other’s pimples and bad hair days. You drove to school together everyday, fighting over the last Eggo waffle each morning and then jamming to your favorite songs in the morning traffic.

There’s been nights of laughing so hard, you’d cry, and crying so hard, you’d get each other to laugh. You’ve been there through each other’s highs and lows, watched every game, meet, competition, and awards ceremony. You are each other’s biggest fan. You’ve listened to each other’s drama with friends, family, teachers, coaches and boyfriends. You’ve threatened to fight whoever hurt the other, and stood up for each other no matter what.

There’s no one else you would dance in the kitchen with when you’re both home alone doing chores. There’s no one else you would get out of bed for, in order to run downstairs and grab a new roll of toilet paper or another bottle of shampoo. There’s no one else you’d share a razor (and even sometimes underwear) with. There’s no one else you’d rather binge watch Netflix with. There’s no one else you’d rather dress and do hair and makeup for when they’re going out. There’s simply no one like a sister.

Leaving your sister behind for college is one of the toughest things to do, because you no longer have your best friend by your side. Yet, no matter what, you know she will be there for you. She was there when you graduated both kindergarten and high school, and she’ll be there when you graduate college. She’ll be there as your maid of honor at your wedding and you’ll be the maid of honor at hers. She will watch you succeed — and fail — and she will pick you up when you are down.

She will be there right beside you when the two of you grow old and senile. She will always be there. She is your person. As you grow up, friends will come and go, but a sister is forever. Thank yours for everything they do for you.