As a little girl, I always thought that having an older brother was a curse. He was so mean to me and I never understood why. We are seven years apart in age and we would fight constantly. He'd wrestle me around and we'd get each other in trouble with mom and dad. He drove me absolutely nuts as a kid, but now I understand why.

When we were young, there was such a big age gap that we got on one another's very last nerve. He was in high school and I was the little annoying elementary-school-age sister. I aggravated him and his friends constantly, which I'm sure he really hated. In return, he gave me hell. When I was five, he even broke my arm once by belly-flopping onto me, and of course, I still don't let him live that down. As I got older, I started fighting back and actually punched him in the face once. As you can imagine, he chased me around the house and I was scared to death.

As we got older, the arguing suddenly stopped. It was kind of weird and I wasn't used to us actually getting along. I realized that when I was young, he only picked on me because he wanted me to be tough and strong-willed. He sure did a good job of it, too, because I'm as stubborn as can be. He graduated from high school when I was graduating from the fifth grade and I realized that I was a little sad about it. My brother was getting older and I knew that in a few years, he would eventually be moving out.

Once he actually moved out of the house, things were weird. He moved in with his girlfriend and I realized that he was growing up and creating a life of his own. It was like my sidekick was missing. My brother — with whom I had lived my entire life — wasn't there anymore. It felt like I was an only child for a long time and I didn't like it at all. I didn't have someone to come home and tell my stories to or to get advice from. If I wanted to talk to him, I had to call or text him and that just wasn't the same.

The best part of having an older brother is that you have a best friend, a second dad, someone to tell your secrets to, and someone to give you advice all rolled into one. We may have wanted to kill each other when we were younger, but things have changed. He's my very best friend. I tell him (almost) everything and if I was ever in trouble, I would know to call him. He gave me a niece and a nephew that I love more than anything in this world. He's getting ready to marry an amazing girl that will become the sister that I've always wanted. I can't wait to see where life takes us both. I don't think there are enough words that I could type to let him know how much he means to me.

Here's all that I can say to him: Thank you for being my sidekick and my best friend all these years. I love you!