Growing up, it seemed like my brother and I were always fighting about something, He was older than me which meant he thought he was smarter, cooler, more clever and just overall better than me. I was a stubborn little sister and I refused to believe any of those things. Needless to say, we butted-heads a lot, so when people would tell us that one day, we'd be best friends I found that hard to believe. But now, it's hard to fathom that we weren't always as close as we are now.

Having an older brother has taught me a lot of valuable lessons.

For example, you'll fight no matter how old you are! Don't get me wrong, we're thick as thieves these days but that doesn't mean we always see eye to eye. All it means is that they days of pushing, shoving and hair-pulling hair have evolved into rolling eyes and expletives. I know that may not sound like much of an improvement and maybe it isn't, but he's still my bossy older brother and I'm his annoying little sister so of course we still find things to fight about. They say old habits die hard…and they mean it.

Along with the arguing, I've come to learn that some of those old debates that we had as kids aren't settled with age either. If you had asked us when we were little, which one of us was the cooler sibling, my brother would have said he was. If you asked us today, he would still insist that he was and is, much cooler than me. Clearly, that's incorrect but as I said before, some arguments can never be settled.

Perhaps worst of all, though, is the feeling of him trying to be some kind of third parent. That's something we fight about almost every time we're both home for more than a week but I just have to remind myself that he's just trying to help, no matter how bossy his help may seem.

With that said, the good parts of having an older brother outweigh the bad.

Over the years I've come to realize that the whole, "you'll be each other's best friend' thing is true. My brother is one of the best people I know. He's truly one of my number one supporters. He's encouraged me to do everything I've ever wanted to, from soccer, where he'd show up and be one of the loudest fans to the theater, where we shared the stage, He's always supported my passions.

Not only has he been supportive of my ambitions, but he's also been accepting of my identity. He simply said he knew and proceeded to let me raid his closet for all of the menswear I had been eying for years. Swiping all of his favorite shirts also taught me a very valuable lesson. If you steal his button-ups and return them before he notices they're gone, then you didn't really take them. It also taught me

I am beyond appreciative for all of his support, acceptance, and encouragement but being close doesn't always have to be so deep. Sometimes the best thing about having an older brother is just having a built-in friend, someone who's sort of forced to hang out with you because like it or not, you're kind of stuck with each other. My brother got his license before me (I'm still working on that) which was when we started to get even closer. We'd go shopping, go for coffee or sometimes just go out to get out of the house and away from our parents and those drives were where we had some of the silliest, most real and sometimes hardest discussions. He introduced me to some horrible music that we still sing at the top of our lungs in the car sometimes.

Long story long, he really is my best friend and I'd hope he'd say the same about me!

All things considered, good and bad, being a little sister really does have its perks, so thanks mom and dad for having me last!