Siblings, you enjoy their company or they just get on your nerves. Above you can see a picture of my brother and me, you'll catch us smiling more and goofing off now than when we were under. He's probably one of the most silliest, loudest, obnoxious, and bravest person I know and I'm thankful God gave me him as my brother. I'm not really sure why we didn't get along so well growing up, but maybe it had something to do with our seven year age difference. To catch everybody up, my brother and I did a lot of the same things. For example, he was in boy scouts and I was in girl scouts, he was in sports and I was in sports, and he was in 4-H and I was in 4-H. Now usually you would think given the circumstances that we were both involved in similar extracurricular activities that we would get along just a bit more because of our same interests, but no. It wasn't till a little later when my brother and I started getting along better.

On March 9th, 2010 my brother enlisted into the United States Army. He originally intended on going into the Navy, but had to steer his decision differently due to filled slots. The military maybe wasn't what my brother had planned, but he felt called to serve his country. At the age of twelve, I don't think I fully comprehended what it meant to serve your country and what selfless act my brother was preparing for. He's been deployed oversees to Afghanistan, a part of the Old Guard, and now 3rd Special Forces, and he's Airborne. There's no reason for me to not be proud of my big brother!

After my brother graduated from basic,he seemed like another person. Basic training turned him into more of a man and an adult than when he went in. This transition made it easier to communicate with my brother without the yelling and arguing. While he was going into adulthood I was going through my teenage years, but we understood each other better. Whether it was school, our parents, life, or we just needed some encouragement we had each others back.

I specifically remember one time while my brother was oversees. he had a few minutes to spare and he chose to spend his time on me. It was early in the morning and I was asleep, but my brother left me a one minute voicemail that I would wake up to feeling thankful. "I love you. Use God's wisdom and your knowledge to your best. God puts obstacles in front of us for us to conquer and to succeed at them. I love you very much, and I hope you have a great day at school." My brother's encouragement and advice over the years have helped me so much. I hope he truly understands how grateful I am to be his sister, and that one day I can show him how much he means to me.

One of the best things about my brother is his love for the Lord, and he's not afraid to share it with anyone. With our parents being strong Christians they are, my brother and I were brought up in church and was always encouraged to live our faith through all aspects of our life. Thanks Brandon for being such a great big brother, and being a terrific role model. I love you!