They say that blood is always thicker than water, but what about when your closest friends are more like family?

I couldn't describe them as anything other than family because that's what they have always been to me.

I met my first best friends when I was 3 years old. We went to the same pre-school and ever since then we've been attached at the hip. She's always been the one who holds my hand through the hard moments and laughs with me during the best.

My second best friend and I met in Girl Scouts several years later. I knew from the minute she walked in that we would be making a lot of memories together. 10 years later and we still are. Although we may not see each other as often because of college, we can still sit down and have a conversation as if we saw each other yesterday.

They are the sisters I never had.

Both of them grew up with siblings, but I've been estranged from my only brother for many years. Any only-child can tell you that spending a childhood without siblings can be very lonely. So, they became my sisters. I loved and will continue to love them as if they were my own blooded siblings.

If someone asks me who they are, I instinctually respond "Well, those are my sisters!" because that's who I've known them to be. Who is always there when I need a shoulder to cry on? My sisters. Who comes over just to play video games in our pajamas? My sisters. We treat each other like family, so why shouldn't we use that title? A family doesn't always have to be related, it's about who holds you down.

It's an unbreakable bond.

I haven't always been close to my blood-related family like many of us aren't nowadays. Times have changed and now a lot of people speak up for themselves when their relatives treat them unfairly. Now that we live in modern times, we are allowed to detach ourselves from the family we were born into if they treat us wrongfully. In this case, that's what I did. So, when I think of family, I think of the two girls who made my life worth living.

We do things that you'd usually do with your entire family. We would go on vacations, spend holidays and birthdays together, we are always with one another. Sometimes, we just go for a midnight drive to pick up Chinese food. The activity didn't matter, the time spent does. My girls became the first people I'd call in a crisis, and both of them always find a way to be comforting. Sometimes it's just a long facetime call or sometimes they'd drive out to see me just to give me a hug. How is that not family?

A family is supposed to be the people you couldn't imagine yourself without; the people who you wouldn't be yourself without. The girls became that for me. They became deeply embedded in my identity to the point where I feel lost without them. They are the ones who I could tell anything to and not have to fear judgment.

The truth is, not all moments were good.

Friends don't always get along, and neither does family. The three of us have had our fair share of petty arguments and fights that left us on our own for periods of times. Those moments without them were what made me realize how important they truly were to me. What matters is that in the end, we always found our way back to each other.

When you find yourself with a tight-knit group, you start to realize how important your friends are to you. I wasn't always in a small group of friends, and when I fell really sick, most of them didn't stick around. But my two main girls? They never left my side when times were tough.

Sometimes when your family is self-made, it can bring on fear.

There's always going to be fear at the thought of losing your family, but this makes you wonder if you'd ever be the same without them. If they walked away tomorrow, would that mean I don't have a family? If an argument tore us apart for good, would we be okay?

That's where trust and appreciation come in. When you find yourself in the thoughts of fear, you realize that maybe you don't tell them you love them enough. The thought of losing them inspires you to make sure you don't take them for granted. Not only that, but you also learn to place trust in that strong bond. It's about learning to remind yourself that they will always be there for you as you will be for them.

They got me through the hardest times.

When I fell sick, they never once judged me or ditched me. Instead, they were the ones who pushed my wheelchair for me or sat in the hospital with me. They always made sure to remind me that even if I wasn't okay, that it would eventually be okay. Sometimes my own blood-related family wouldn't do that for me. Someday, I'll be there to do that for them too.

They understand how restricting my illness is. If I can't get out of bed when their birthday party comes alone, they don't hold it against me or hold a grudge. Instead, they tell me not to worry and then stop by my house to give me a hug and pick up their gift. There isn't any pressure, even though I wish I could always be there for them like they are for me.

We don't act like friends, we act like family.

Sometimes we'll do little things with each other that others don't always think of. Wanna go for a ride to the gas station? I'm on my way. You didn't get breakfast before school? I've got fast food in the car. You're in the bathroom crying? Grab your backpack because I'm coming to get you. You need someplace to crash? I've got warm pajamas for you. Wanna hang out? Good, I'm already in your driveway.

We always make sure that our doors are open for one another. At this point, I'm pretty sure they have keys to my house! We are constantly reminding each other to stay safe or that we love each other because we're on a new level of friendship. We are on a family level now. It becomes a habit just like it would with a related family because that's how deep it goes for us.

We watched each other make bad decisions in our teen years, just like sisters would. We got piercings together and went through our emo phases together. We'd see who could knock back a case of energy drinks the fastest. We did it all and we did it together.

Someday, they will be the godparents of my children. I'll be there to watch them walk down the aisle. We'll spend Christmas mornings together with our kids and spouses. We'll always be sisters as far as I'm concerned.

Family isn't always blood, sometimes it's made of love.