Me and my sister don't have the standard "sister bond." We don't call each other and gab or go out for drinks. When your sister is ten years older than you, your relationship is a little different. We are complete opposites in some areas, and exactly the same in others. My sister is short, pale and shy but very witty. I am opposite; I am about six inches taller than her, always tan and not shy in the least. We are both brunettes with dark brown eyes. We have a lot of the same mannerisms whether either of us would like to admit it and I blame that on growing up watching her. I grew up with someone to look up to. My sister taught me so many things that neither I or she realized she was teaching me.

She wasn't a controlling older sibling like a lot of the siblings I see now. She never told me what to do or how I should act, she let my parents do that. But I did watch her and the way she acted and I tried to be just like her. I played soccer my whole life just like her, even though I was never as good as she was. I took dance for a while, just like she did. After a while I figured out that I was more artsy than I was athletic. But she supported me no matter what. She came to my soccer games and watched me in my recitals. She even came to the few pageants I did even though we all knew I wasn't cut out for it.

Yes, my sister is my friend. But I have plenty of friends. I want my big sister, to be my big sister and that's exactly what she is. She makes fun of the stupid things I used to do when I was younger and we can laugh about them now. We used to fight when we were younger and we still fight now from time to time. But we share clothes and we gossip about what we can. She may not realize it but I grew up with all her friends just like she did. Her and her friends would come over to the house and jam N'Sync and I would be right there with them. Maybe not the whole time, but for the 20 or 30 minutes I got to tag along, I was the coolest 6-year-old around. Her friends still look at me like I'm that annoying little 6 year old that would listen in on their phone calls and bug them and that's okay.

I don't tell my sister all my secrets but when I need advice she is always there to help me. After a fight with my parents I would always go tell my sister what happened and sometimes she'd just listen for moral support and sometimes she would give me advice. She never realized how much that meant to me and she still doesn't. At 20 years old I'm still looking to her for advice and I don't think it will ever change.

Whenever I was in high school my sister would always do my makeup for prom and put on my false lashes for me. Now that I'm older, I do her hair and makeup for her when she goes places. I guess you could say I'm paying her back for all the times she did it for me. She used to give me all her hammy downs and now that I'm older and have cuter clothes, I'm the one giving her my hammy downs.

Now my sister is teaching me how to be a good mother. I see the way she is with her son every day and it just inspires me. She is such an amazing mom. My nephew is not perfect by any means, but he is the epitome of a happy child. They don't shower him in toys or buy him expensive clothes. He's 2, and he has exactly what a 2-year-old needs. He likes to color and he loves to be chased. He loves his cows and he is going to grow up to be a firefighter/cowboy just like his dad.

My sister gave me many very important lessons. I can't imagine what growing up without her would have been like. I still remember crying in the back of the car when we were moving her into her new apartment 3 hours away and trying to act like I wasn't. I may not always like her, but I will always love her. She's my big sis.