I will never understand why I go out to dinner with my brother and the waiter asks me, “Oh, your boyfriend is paying, right?” or when I go to a department store with my brother to buy perfume and the sales clerk asks me if that’s my boyfriend. Or why I get the strangest of looks when my brother and I go to the movies together. Are we really living in a day and age where it is so out of the ordinary to see a girl “hang out” with her brother that she can’t go anywhere without being questioned about whether or not they’re in a relationship?

I am not the least bit ashamed to say that my brother is truly my best friend. I wouldn’t trade the times we share together for the world. In fact, I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like if I had a relationship with a sibling that I didn’t speak to in years, I only saw on Christmas or at funerals, or I engaged with in conversations that included no more than single-syllable responses in which outsiders would believe to be between two complete strangers. I for one, am proud of the close relationship I have created and maintained with my brother over the years because what is the purpose of having a sibling if we choose not to love and cherish them? No matter how difficult times get, how often we say things we don’t mean, or how long we go without seeing each other, I know that the bond I created with my brother is one that will last a lifetime. My brother is the one and only person that was put on this Earth who was raised by the same parents as me, shares the same DNA, experienced the same trauma, lives under the same roof, traveled to the same places, attended the same school, and learned the same values as me. For those reasons, we are more similar to each other than an individual can be with any other relative or friend. We may be two completely different people with different personalities, dreams for the future, political beliefs, and lifelong goals, however, we are much more alike than either of us could probably ever imagine. We have a connection that cannot be shared or experienced by any others, nor can it ever be taken away from us.

I feel bad for the people that never get to experience this lifelong bond. It is one that makes you feel grateful for all of the little things in life, one that makes you feel so connected to another human being, and one that allows you to love someone as much as you love your parents. I am so grateful that I was given this opportunity in life - the chance to create this everlasting bond...Not everyone is this lucky. So, I never think twice about asking my brother to join me for a movie or a trip to the mall, I don’t ever regret choosing to spend the day with my brother over spending the day with my friends, and I definitely don’t feel weird for going out to dinner with just my brother at a fancy restaurant. My brother is not perfect, nor am I. But, we understand each other better than anyone else. We know exactly what the other is thinking at every moment. We know each other’s pet peeves and biggest fears. We know how to make each other laugh…We sometimes know each other better than we know ourselves.

I am blessed to have a brother that goes above and beyond as a sibling – a brother that travels over two hours each way on weekends to visit me at college, a brother who often tries to step in and fill the void of our deceased father, a brother who spends all of his savings on buying my mom and I the nicest of Christmas and birthday gifts, a brother who always asks me if I want anything from Dunkin or Starbucks, a brother that goes out of his way to make me happy and feel loved.

With graduation approaching soon, he will soon be moving on to the next stage of his life. Neither of us may know where the future will be taking him, but all I know is that he will be going far and making me proud every single day. I know that distance or change can never tear us apart because

I always was, and always will be “Tom’s little sister.”