Growing up in my older sister’s shadow, I was the overlooked Jan Brady to her radiant Marcia. Sunbeams bounced off her blonde hair like a halo, and her effortless charm earned her awards like “best personality.” All my crushes only had eyes for her. Every teacher I encountered in her wake wondered aloud why I wasn’t more like her. She was the pleaser, I was the rebel, and we butted heads brutally growing up.
Our sibling rivalry led to screaming matches during which we kicked each other’s shins until they were black and blue and slammed doors that didn’t lock in each other’s faces, desperately trying to push them back open to continue the battle. My mom used to declare with calm conviction in the background of this chaos, “One day you’ll be the best of friends.” This ludicrous prediction would stop us dead in our tracks. “No way! That will never happen,” we’d pause to reply before announcing, “I’ll hate her forever.”
Time passed and our fighting fizzled as we were home less often and spent most of our time with friends and boyfriends. When my sister moved out after high school, I missed her company deeply.
I found myself meeting her on her adventures whenever I could
Her loyalty is unparalleled
When someone wrongs me, she’s the first person who wants to suit up and defend me. She has helped me cope with every difficult situation, big or small, that I’ve ever encountered as an adult — acting like my living, breathing compass who helps me find my true north.
My sister is my greatest confidante, cheerleader, and source of comfort and advice. No one can come close to replicating the shorthand we share. We have a lifetime of inside jokes, endless laughter over movies we watched as kids, the understanding of marital strife and parenting challenges, the same hysteria over finding a spider in the house. We know each other better than we know ourselves sometimes.
When my own kids fight and say they hate each other, it breaks my heart… but I hold out the hope that they too will become the best of friends someday, like my mom predicted my sister and I would. I’m thankful for her always, and I’ll love her forever.
