Growing up, I longed to have a sister. Each time my mother got pregnant I would pray it was going to be a girl, and each time she would bring me another brother. I was so invested in this dream that I was convinced when my mom got pregnant for the last time, when I was 11, she was going to have a girl. Even after my parents told me the ultra sound identified that baby as a boy I was still hopeful the outcome would change. Of course, when the baby was born it was not a girl and I was so upset by this that I cried. Flash forward 16 years; I am the older sister to three younger brothers and would not change it for the entire world.
I think the main reason I had such a deep longing for a sister stemmed from my friends and TV shows. All my friends would tell me stories of their older sisters who would take them to the mall, get their nails done, and go to the movies. Because of this, I formed the impression that a sister was someone who you could be friends and live with all the time. The TV shows I watched on Disney Channel growing up also presented a similar image. I thought I would be immediately connected to this sibling because they were the same gender as me and I wouldn’t ever be able to have that bond with my brothers because they were of a different gender. Or so I thought.
Over the years as I matured I learned several different things. The first being the gender of individuals you surround yourself with will not limit or extend the connection you will hold with them. My brothers and I are incredibly close and even though our gender is obviously different we all share similar interests and the same common beliefs. It is because of this that I have developed such a deep and unique bond with each one of them. The second thing I learned is that gender is not going to have an impact on the activities that you can do together. I found that my brothers and I all have very similar styles. Because of this we all are able to share clothes, and because of this we still have those dreaded fights over borrowing clothes that many sisters do.
Through my years of maturity, I was able to look past gender as a determining factor for friendship. I even found that growing up I gravitated more towards having friendships with guys than I did with girls. Maybe this was because I grew up building relationships with three brothers. Who knows, but I do know that I would not change the relationship that I have with each of my brothers for the entire world.