Some of life’s biggest lessons happen while growing up. These lessons grow out of the experiences we have, and the people we interact with. Some of these people can help mold our childhood into a world of adventure, a world of opportunity and most importantly a world of love. For me, one of these key individuals happened to be my brother. Now, growing up with a sister (or in his case 4 sisters) can be a lot of work. We are emotional, sometimes nonsensical, and really hard to read. Learning to live with us is a true art. However, older brothers seem to hone in the skills of not only living with us, but impacting us in ways we may not even know yet. So as much as I can complain about my brother being too overprotective or being insensitive to my feelings, in the end, he is a key reason why I am the person I am today. The following are just a few of the things that I can truly thank my big brother for.

1. For playing with me despite our age gap and never making me feel too much like a baby.

2. For giving me endless piggy back rides -- when I was still small enough that I wasn’t breaking your back.

3. For making up games with me when we were bored out of our minds.

4. For introducing me to the good ‘ol days of Disney, and helping me appreciate those timeless movies.

5. For tickling me until I was crying even when I screamed at you to stop.

6. For (almost) always never tattling on me when we got in trouble with mom and dad.

7. For babysitting me even when you could have been hanging out with friends.

8. For buying me Polly Pockets when you had me for secret santa. Big brother knew best.

9. For making sure my ego never got to high by crushing me in any game we ever played.

10. For having a worse singing voice than me so I didn’t feel too bad about myself.

11. For showing me what not to pull on mom and dad (I got to see what you did wrong and learn from your mistakes).

12. For putting up with me even when I was going through the “tunnel” of being a teenage girl.

13. For letting me watch movies with you and your friends even though I was the baby sister.

14. For letting me watch you play Zelda on our Nintendo 64 (key word is watch because you never let me play. Don’t worry I got over it).

15. For showing me what it is like to find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

16. For giving me an example of what hard work can lead to.

17. For teasing me and helping me form my sarcastic sense of humor that everyone has come to love (I think).

18. For always asking me if I have a boyfriend yet. Actually no I don’t, thank you for this. Please stop. The answer is still no.

19. For always making the effort to catch up with me, even when you were starting your big kid job.

20. For always knowing just what to say when I am struggling with something or feeling frazzled.

21. For being more than a brother, but a friend forever.