When you hear people talk about their siblings, you are bound to hear one of two things come out of their mouth. You either hear people say that they are incredibly distant with their familial counterpart and despise them, or they are incredibly close with them; mine is the latter. The greatest gift I have ever received would have to be my younger sister, Keighley. Being 12 1/2 months apart, my sister and I grew up at the same time. We are each other's closest confidants and competitors. When you give a girl a younger sister:

You Give Her A Confidant:

My sister knows each and every dark secret of mine. When something happens, good or bad, she is the first person to know. When I am bored I call her to see how her day is going and to make sure everything is going well. My sister has helped me through some of the darkest moments I have encountered. She gives me advice, even when I really don't want or think I need it. She knows how to give me tough love in sticky situations. When you give a girl a younger sister, you give her endless friendship. You give her endless hours of laughs and inside jokes. You give her someone who will stick by you and cheer you on through thick and thin.

You Give Her A Competitor:

My sister and I are overly and insanely competitive. When we played sports, we always aimed to get more hits or make more outs than one another. When it came to academics, we always aimed to get higher grades or have the higher GPA. Now that we're both in college, we still find ways to compete with one another. When you give a girl a younger sister, you give her someone to have friendly rivalries and banters with. You have someone to cheer you on to the finish line of an event or race.

You Fight.

This isn't the prettiest factor but it happens. Before my sister and I became insanely close, there was a period of time where we did not get along and fought a lot. We would fight over things such as someone eating the last animal cracker or not liking the people we were hanging out with at the time. When you give a girl a younger sister, you are taught how to resolve issues quickly and civilly. You learn how to compromise and hear the other's side of the story. You learn to hold your ground and do what's best for the other, even when doing what's best comes at a price.

You Cry.

There's lots of crying -- crying over fights, crying over something funny, something sad, or even something stupid. When you give a girl a younger sister, you give her a shoulder to cry on and someone's hand to hold when you are too weak to hold yourself up.

You Get A Role Model.

Although I am technically older, my sister has always been the more mature one. She always knows what to do during a difficult moment. When you give a girl a younger sister, you give her a role model. You give her someone to aspire to be and someone's behavior you try to model.

To my sister, thank you for being a constant ray of light in my life. Thank you for everything that you have done for me and for encouraging me to be the best person I can be.