One of the best things about growing up with five siblings was having five automatic best friends. To be fair, when I was growing up, my sisters were much older than me and so that left me with one best friend, my little brother.
We are only one year apart so we did everything together. We went to the same daycare, preschool, and then the same elementary, middle, and high school, with him trailing only one year behind me. All of my childhood memories are with him by my side.
All of the snow days spent in the woods behind the backyard, snowball fights, and sledding. All of the hot sticky summer days taking turns sneaking popsicles out of the freezer, playing manhunt, and playing mermaids by the lake. We were never apart.
Fast forward to awkward middle school days, and then heartbreaking high school days, and the person who was always there for me was my brother. He has always been there with a pint of Ben and Jerrys after the end of every friendship and relationship I have been through. We have a friendship that's unlike any other friendship I have.
Besides growing up with my brother always by my side, I always had four of the most amazing sisters only a couple of years above me, as well. Although I have a totally different relationship with them, they are still my closest friends who have been with me forever. Once I got older, I was able to reflect on all of the small stuff they did for me when I was younger and I was able to grow closer to them.
Once my emo teenage years rolled around, they had a lot of advice for me and were there for me and understood me in some of the ways my little brother couldn't. No offense boys, but girls really are complicated creatures and some things only other girls can relate to. They are my shoulder to cry on and the strongest women who I can always look up to and count on.
No matter how many relationships form and break in my life, I can always count on my siblings to be there for me no matter what. They have seen and know the absolute worst parts of me and have never left my side or made me feel bad about any of it. There is something about having to hide parts of myself to everyone else but being completely open with my siblings that I will truly cherish forever.
I would be completely lost without my siblings, and I would definitely not be the same person. That's why I hope I have three kids who are as close as the Kardashians. Who wouldn't?
