I've always been an only child . . . well, mainly throughout my childhood, of course. It wasn't until I was sixteen years old that my mom announced that she was pregnant with my little sister, (who is now almost four years old) and my "only child" status had been wiped clean. But it was okay because I had kind of shared my childhood with someone who wasn't exactly my sister, not biologically anyway. My aunt Candice is only four years older than I, and if I'm going to be exact, four and a half years older than I.

I'm kind of really thankful that my grandparents decided to have her twelve years after my mom was born, and then thankful that my mom got pregnant with me when she was sixteen years old. Yeah, it's kind of a messy and odd dynamic, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Growing up, my Aunt Candice was basically my role model, and she tells me that I was "this little blonde girl who wouldn't stop following her" (preferably through ages three to nine). She laughs, she who is 25 years old, and I, who is now almost a whopping twenty-one, roll my eyes. Though I don't always say that I am thankful for certain things, I am certainly thinking it - and I am more than grateful that I've shared a ginormous part of my life with someone who I can always look up to. So, Candice, this is for you. I love you to the moon and back.

1. Having the older sister I never had.

I kind of got really lucky with this one. I got the sister that I had always wanted (yes, even the parts where we would fight 24/7. I kind of liked that, too. It's part of the package!) I had an instant playmate, someone who I could be weird with, someone who I could grow up with. There we some good, high lighted times that I remember while growing up with Candice. We would have lemonade stands outside of my Grandparent's house, and when she got older, she would mow the lawn and make me stand behind her and spray her with a squirt gun - which resulted in me getting a prize afterwards. There were those times where we would get really creative. When Candice would babysit me, we would make obstacles around the house and in the hallway for her dog, Tess, to run through. We used pillows, brooms, chairs, laundry baskets, etc. and make a mini "obstacle course" for Tess for fun.

2. Being there for her.

There were times where I was kind of young to understand what was really going on, but I had good intentions and my heart was in the right place when I noticed that she was unhappy. All I wanted to do was make her happy again, because seeing her upset really bothered me. When my great grandma (my aunt's grandma) passed away, my aunt was really upset because she was extremely close to her. My nine year old self walked into her room and found her 13-year-old self crying on her bed. I rubbed her back and asked if I could hug her and told her everything was going to be okay. She was upset and told me I didn't understand how upset she was, and I didn't detest. I just let her talk and cry and I just sat there.

I respected her sadness, even though I was young (I've always been very intuitive and slightly mature for my age), I walked out of the room and let her be. Other times, I would let her cry on my shoulder when she was upset about things she couldn't tell anyone else. As the years went by, we would talk about more "adult things," and it was easier because our age gap wasn't as awkward. I told her that she could talk to me whenever she needed to vent.

3. She is there for me.

During some tough times in my life, I remember her always being there in one way or another. We would have our little fights and bicker here and there, but when the going got rough, she would simply hug me and remind me how much she loves me, and how important I am, and I can feel that. It's like she pushes away her "older sisterly" duty to annoy me to comfort me because that's another reason she's around. And I so appreciate it. Now that I am older, we talk on the phone here and there, just conversing about life and all it's craziness with being a young adult. It's kind of cool that we're both in our twenties now, and I can relate to her a lot more. Whenever I'm in some sort of dilemma, or just want to vent, she's one of the first people I want to call.

4. Learning from her.

She's given me a lot of good advice throughout the years, whether she knows it or not. Sometimes, she doesn't even have to say anything and I just absorb everything in. She understands how I can get impatient easily with things in life, and that I have endured some crazy circumstances, and so she tells me to just basically take it one day at a time, remind myself of what I am thankful for, and to be keep my cool in a situation that makes me want to punch something in the face. She has given me advice on college: get an internship sooner than later! And, she has given me the inside scoop on what life is really like straight out of college.

5. Yes, there were lots of those "sisterly" fights.

Actually, there were LOADS of those fights. Eh, nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary. You had your "Moooooommm, she's being mean to me!", "Mooooommm! She won't let me watch this!" or "Grandma! She's picking on me again!" I can't exactly remember one hundred percent, but I do know that we pissed each other off a lot, and we tattled on one another quite a bit. Looking back . . . wow, we were so mean to each other. But what sister isn't??(:

6. Being her maid of honor.

And being able to come up with that infamous "maid of honor speech." It was crazy seeing someone who you used to play beanie babies and barbies with grow up and get married, and it was bittersweet that she decided to make me her maid of honor in her wedding. When she was a teenager, I remember her telling me that when she would get married, she would make me her maid of honor, and I thought that was cool and I felt important, but I was younger and I didn't think she would really keep that promise.

A few years later, she did and that honestly made me feel special. I may have not been the perfect maid of honor, but I did the best I could, and I just wanted her to have a wonderful wedding day and for things to go perfectly. I think it's when I wrote my maid of honor speech that I truly realized how thankful I was for my sisterly relationship with her. "I remember when I wanted to play with you and your friends when I was about five years old, and I would sit outside of your bedroom door and you would lock me out." *laughs* Typical sister stuff, right there. "Or, I remember when you would shove me in the closet when I ticked you off." It was something like that, and the wedding guests would laugh, and I knew that was some genuine stuff.

I'm going to kind of miss goofing off, quarreling and being annoying little kids and making up games and telling on each other, to be honest. But in a way, I'm a lot more grateful that we are finally all grown up and relate to each other on more levels. Thank you so much for being my non-biological sister, my aunt, and my friend. I love you!!!!