Sisters. They are messy, kind, obnoxious, loving and full of advice. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had two built in best friends. You see, I am the baby of two older siblings who at first, denied me at every turn. They didn’t want an addition to the family, and didn’t want to have to share their stuff all over again – especially my oldest sister Rebecca. She already went through this same thing before with my other sister Amanda, and she was not looking forward to doing it again. But nevertheless, they grew used to it. Even if it took a few years, or 10.
When I was very young, from the ages 3-9, my sisters and I did not get along. They were constantly locking me out of their rooms and never letting me in on the secret, even if there wasn’t one. In return to this, I bit them, smacked them and pulled their hair, so you can imagine they were not very fond of me. I used to throw toys at them when they refused to let me share and play with them. (I wonder why?!) To this day, the only logical explanation I have of acting this way towards them was because I felt left out. My two older sisters didn’t want to hang out with their baby sister, who talked like a little kid and didn’t understand “big kid” stuff. I felt like if I responded to them in a negative way, they would somehow feel bad for me and let me join in on the fun. But like always, I was wrong.
They kept turning me away until one day it all stopped. Maybe it was age, but sooner or later, I got the message that if I continued to act the way I did, we would never have a relationship. My grandma used to tell me, “At the end of the day, your sisters will be all that you have in your life. So, you may as well take advantage of that and grow up.” This seemed like the perfect wake up call. To be honest, I think as I grew up, and started to creep near the age of 10, I realized my behavior needed to change.
As I grew up, our relationship changed dramatically. My oldest sister, Rebecca, is 5 years older than me, and my other older sister Amanda is 2 years older than me. When I turned 10, it seemed like the perfect age for all of us to grow up and stop acting like children. Around this time, we used to act out tv shows and assign a character to each other. We would watch movies and tv shows together and laugh about them for hours afterwards. We would hide in our basement, playing all types of video games, and lose ourselves for hours in the sanctuary we built together.
As the years progressed, and we got older, our relationship grew stronger and grew to where it is today. Honestly, I could not picture what my life would be like without my two sisters by my side. They have seen me at my lowest and my highest. They have come to every cheer competition I competed in, and mostly every cross country race I ran. They showed me and still show me endless support about every decision I make. They make me laugh till there are tears in my eyes. They tell me my farts smell and that I need to shower more. They stuff there faces with food with me when one of us is having a bad day. We talk on FaceTime for hours and never run out of things to say. We have singalongs, and binge watch Disney movies. We fight and yell and say things we don’t mean, but always find a way back to each other in less than 10 minutes.
Words cannot even express how grateful I am for my two sisters. Not a day goes by that I dream of being an only child (sometimes.) I can’t even imagine my life as being an only child. They have colored in the black and white parts of my life, and always will. Having my two sisters as my best friends have shaped me into the person I am today. Without them and their guidance, who knows where I would be.
So thank you Rebecca and Amanda. For everything. But mostly, for being my best friends.