Dear Sister,

Being away from you is like having half a heart. I don't have to finish my sentences when you're around because the predicate spills out of your mouth as soon as you hear the subject from mine. We are unified, unidentical twins—inside and out—and I miss sharing every emotion with you.

I forget, because we are so similar, that you are young. I forget that you're my baby sister, a smaller version of me and not the exact same. I forget that you still have lessons to learn that I figured out a long time ago. I forget that I have lessons to learn that you too will encounter somewhere down the road. I forget that you can't read my mind from a distance. I forget that being apart is a challenge.

Dear sister, I hope you are well. I hope you are growing from the inside out, letting only the best things water your little soul garden. I hope the freckles on your nose are getting plenty of sunshine and your hair is long and healthy. I hope your friends hug you as tight as I would and I hope you let them, even though you prefer not to be touched. I hope you're letting your little vegetarian bones inhale lots of protein. I hope your laughing and singing as loud as you always do with that ocean soft voice of yours. I hope the days are bright.

I know, though, that not every morning is bursting with positivity and that there are deep moments of fear and question and crumbling. I know that you have moments of missing me the way I have moments of missing you. I know it's hard to have half a heart. I know the paper thin texture of the oxygen when you're not around and how suddenly the world is a novel when I'm with you. I know we'll be together soon.

Dear sister, I thank God for you every day. He deemed me lucky enough to have a built-in best friend, a little flower to grow in the garden. But you're the one with the green thumb. You're the one changing me every day with your unguarded heart. My half heart needs that. Thank you for watering me with wisdom and your wry smile.

I love you, little sister, therapist, accomplice. I love you, my friend, for life.