Every family has a unique set up, but if you are very lucky, you have an older sister. Having a big sister means that your life is enriched in a million different ways that you may not even realize. This list is in honor of my sister and all older sisters like her, who may not get the praise they deserve.

1. For borrowing (all of) her stuff

If your big sister is anything like mine, she has always had the best sense of style. Because of that (and probably because you were broke), going through her things and picking out some new stuff to wear was a must. As much as it probably infuriated her, you should thank her for not killing you, especially when the tags were still on it.

2. For the times she never told on you

Big sisters are always one step ahead of us; they know what we are about to do before we do. My sister knew about every stupid thing I did growing up, i.e. staining the carpet, wearing makeup when I wasn’t allowed, etc. With this knowledge came great power, and most of the time she was kind enough to keep the information between us. We could have gotten in a lot more trouble than we did thanks to her.

3. For letting you tag along every now and then

Our older sisters always seemed to lead the most exciting lives. If we were very lucky, she would let us join in on some of the adventure. Whether it be a day trip to the mall or a full-blown event, whenever our older sisters let us crash their plans we had the best time (bonus points if her cool older friends were involved). Even though she was probably annoyed and embarrassed more than half of the time we were together, us younger siblings always had a blast.

4. For driving you everywhere until you could do it on your own

As much as my sister hated to do this, whenever I needed a ride anywhere she would take me. Our big sisters deserve a lot of credit for using their precious time and gas to take us wherever we wanted to go. Even though we probably left a lot of trash in the car and put our feet on the dashboard, they always gave us another ride, and for that we need to be grateful.

5. For introducing you to all of the cool stuff early on

Because our older sisters are the coolest people around they were always in on the new trends. Lucky for us, we got to be there to hear the popular music, TV shows, book series, etc. Because of this we were always the first people our age to catch on the trendy stuff.

6. For always defending you

As much as our sisters beat up on us behind closed doors, if someone else wanted to do it it was a different story. The second a different family member or someone at school teased us our big sisters were ready to pounce. They always knew when to come to our defense when we needed it the most.

7. For putting you in your place when she needed to

Our big sisters knew better than anyone how bratty we could get, and they knew it was their place to teach us that it wasn't going to fly. As crazy as it sounds, our sisters getting on us for being annoying really has helped us in the log run. She taught us that not everything is going to go our way, that everything isn't about us. And that's okay.

8. For giving the best advice

Our sisters have always been much wiser than us. Everything that we had gone through, they had experienced before. They always know exactly how to handle a situation and they are always looking out for our best interest.

9. For being like a second mother

As much as it probably drove you insane, your sister always looked out for you, sometimes even more than your own mother did. She always took care of you; between helping you get ready in the mornings and scolding you when you were being bad, she somehow became Mom 2.0.

10. For always keeping it real with you

This may be an unpopular opinion, but your older sister always being honest with you really did help you in the long run. The truth can definitely hurt, but hearing it from your sister means something completely different. Her telling you that she doesn't like your boyfriend or even your outfit can definitely sting, but you know she's coming from a good place.

11. For loving you the way only a big sister can

There is no purer love than the one between us and our older sisters. No matter how different we are, or how much we get on each other’s nerves, we love each other unconditionally. Our big sisters have taught us some of the most important lessons in our lives. They are our second mother, our counselor, stylist, chauffeur, personal assistant and best friend all wrapped into one. I’m not sure what we did to get so lucky, but I’m glad we did.