To my brother,

The definition of a sibling in a dictionary is two or more children that have one or both parents in common, but it is incredibly more than that. They leave out one who is always there for you, a shoulder to cry on, and a big part of your support system. You’re my best friend. Like Drake says in his song, “you’re my right hand, you’re my go to.” Siblings are great to have when you feel that you can’t talk to anyone else because you feel that they will make fun of you or not understand. You have always been able to understand me and talk me through things (even though I’m supposed to be the older and wiser one). We’re not just siblings, we’re best friends.

You have always encouraged me to be the best me I can be. Even though I’m older you still teach me things that I wish I could have taught you. You have taught me crucial things in life like courage, being the bigger person and not to sweat the little things. Last year when we went to St. Croix on vacation and we went horseback riding, our instructor wanted me to stand on the horse and I almost had a panic attack, but you were right there with me and we did it together. I see you take the high road and be the bigger person every day, which encourages me to do the same. It will still take me a while to get it down. You’re so good at this because you have dad’s genes and I get mom’s and mom doesn’t take the high road most times (nothing against my mother it’s very hard for a lot of people to do).

When we fight we make up right after because we know there was nothing really to fight about. You forgave me when I made you smear your poop on the wall and I forgave you when you punched my tooth out, which caused me to swallow it. When I’m upset or mad about something, sometimes you’re the only person who can get me to smile and not do it in an annoying way.

We make a good team. We make the best out of any situation. I just asked you if you could think of a time when we were bored or had a sucky situation and you replied, “anytime you and me were together nothing sucked. We had fun.” I had to sit and think for a while if I could think of a time where we were bored out of our minds and couldn’t think of anything. Now that says something. I’m nineteen years old and you’re sixteen and we’ve never had a dull moment. Our lives are full of laughter and great memories and I wouldn’t trade our relationship for anything. This letter is thanking you for putting up with me throughout the years and always being right there around the corner to help me with my problems. Love you always, J