I’ve had two jobs in my life so far. I’ve worked as a cashier at a hardware store for two and a half years, and I’ve been a big sister to Cadence Anne for 17 years, seven months, and 17 days.
Being a big sister is the easiest and, at the same time, hardest job there is.
For me, I find that it comes naturally like 95% of the time. These are the times when my fingers instinctually tap her name on FaceTime. Other times it is when I see something that reminds me of her and I just have to buy it. Most often it’s when we’re out together and we talk about anything and everything.
Don’t get me wrong: being the older sister is hard sometimes. Growing up, we were so close in age that I know she must have felt like she was trailing after me. I know that she is in the shadow that my parents have of me sometimes. She has to do well in school because I did well in school. I know sometimes she feels like she has to live up to everything that I have done before her.
There is so much guilt that I feel when thinking about this. I just hope she knows that I don’t think she has to be anything but herself. I think she should make her own way, doing whatever is best for her.
One of the biggest struggles that I’ve encountered recently in my job is being so far away from her. No longer can I just walk into her room and debrief for the day. I can’t just ask her to go to get food real quick with me.
The distance has been hard but I’ve made sure to fulfill my duties as a big sister as much as I can. Whenever I’m back at home, we always make plans to hang out. Even when I’m not there, we FaceTime a couple of times a week to get caught up on everything that we’ve missed in each other’s lives.
I take my job as a big sister very seriously. I defend my sister to anyone who dares insult her in front of me. BUT…Sometimes she is a pain. Sometimes all I do is complain and insult her. But she’s my sister and I’m allowed to do that.
While my job is to be her big sister, I also have recently taken on the job of being her best friend. We talk to each other about everything. We share 50% of our DNA and 100% of gossip about our lives.
I keep her in check when we both know she’s being a little…bratty. And she tells me, with full honesty, if my outfit looks good or not.
Something happened the other night that made me really think about my relationship with my sister. My sister told me that my mom had read a recent Her Campus article of mine and told her “Aw did you see Abbey mentioned you as her best friend in her article? She loves you.” Yes, Mom, I do love Cadie. She’s my best friend. She is my person.
While it seemed obvious to me, I can understand why my mom seemed surprised by this strong bond between me and Cadie.
When we were younger, we fought a lot. We would get into some pretty intense arguments and often they would go unresolved. Our parents would pull us away from each other and tell us to calm down. Then we wouldn’t talk for a day…or a week.
Whenever we would have these fights, my grandmother used to always tell us that we would soon be so lucky to have each other. “You’re going to be each other’s BEST friends when you get older”, she would always say to us.
We would glare and disagree under our breaths.
But, here we are. One of the most important roles that I fill in life is being a big sister. My life is so much more fulfilled because I know I am my little sister’s best friend.