Most of the time siblings are the most annoying thing in your life. I have heard horror stories of some of the fights and arguments that siblings sometimes get into. Even so, my brother and I have a completely different relationship. He is my best friend and always will be.

My brother and I are Irish twins. This means that we were born in less than 9 months of each other. Growing up with someone that close in age with me was probably the best part of my childhood. It gave me a friend and a playmate.

One of the funniest things about our relationship, at least in my mind, is how different our appearances are. I am short with dark hair and olive tone skin while my brother stands 6 feet 2 inches (a foot and a half taller than me) with pale skin and light brown hair. However, our personalities could not be more compatible.

My brother and I are both compassionate, kind, smart human beings. We motivate each other, celebrate each other, and make sure to lift the other up when we are down. No matter what is going on, I know that I can always rely on him.

Because my brother is tall, I sometimes refer to him as my own personal bodyguard. However, even when he wasn't the tall, he always put forth efforts to defend me in my time of need. Once we were playing at this cute little park near our house and some kid called me stupid. We were about 5 at the time so in our world stupid was as bad as it got.

Me being me just ignored it and moved on, but Matty was not settling with this. He walked right over to this little boy and said, "No you're stupid!" I will never forget this moment among a variety of others where my brother has repeatedly come to my aid.

I will say that it is hard now knowing that my best friend is across that country at a different school. When you grow up with someone and do almost everything with that person for your entire life, it is hard to let go. My brother is an amazing person, and I know he thinks the same about me.

No matter where we are in the world or in life for that matter, we both know that we will look out for each other. We both continue to help each other grow into the young man and woman we know we are meant to be. No matter what I will always have my best friend to help guide me down the right path and I will do the same for him.