All the reasons why older sisters are the ultimate besties

It’s Besties Week! We’re kicking off the release of our first HelloGiggles book, A Tale of Two Besties, with an epic celebration of friendship and stories about friendship. Read an excerpt of the book, buy a copy, catch us on our cross-country book tour, and share your photos from our events by tagging us @hellogiggles #ATaleofTwoBesties.

In the meantime, join the party right here. All week long, our contributors will be sharing stories, essays and odes to their very own partners-in-crime. Read, laugh, cry (because you’re laughing) and share with your bestie!

When I was four or five, I was spending an afternoon with my grandma and I felt something I had never experienced before: “Oma,” I said, “I think I’m thirsty.”

“What do you mean, ‘think?,” she asked.

“Well, I’ve never been thirsty before. Julie (my big sister) always brings me water,” I explained.

In my short time on Earth, I had never experienced thirst or loneliness because I was born into a family that included an amazing big sister who looked out for me.

But, being a little sister can be tough. No matter how big you seem to get, your older sister is still doing cooler stuff than you are. She also does things with ease that you struggle over, like running faster or applying liquid eye liner. If you’re lucky, like me, despite the fact that your big sister could outrun you, drive and had (still has) better hair, she always included you. Even though big sisters are a little older, they share in your childhood experiences, while teaching you the things they learned just a few years before.

Growing up with this kind of companion gives you a best friend for life. Today, my sister and I live miles apart and I’ve figured out how to procure my own water, but she’ll always be my best friend and big sister.

So, little sisters, here are some of the many reasons your sister is your BFF.

1.  She broke in your parents.
Your big sister had a big hand in making your parents relax. She also probably taught you how to break the house rules.

2.  She broke in your teachers and community. 
Teachers knew you as so-and-so’s sister. And, if you had a brainy sister like me, it was helpful … most of the time.

3.  She makes you happier.
Studies show that people with sisters are happier!

4.  She gave you all of her old stuff. 
Sometimes hand-me-down clothes were a drag. But you often idolized your sister’s cool fashion sense and couldn’t wait for her to be done with her platform flip flops and blue nail polish … It was 2001, OK?!

5.  She made you the coolest kid in grade school. 
While your friends were still watching “kid shows,” you were allowed to watch teen movies and TV. So, you watched Friends and Dawson’s Creek when it aired the first time, even if you were nine.

6.  She introduced you to all of your favorite things. 
It’s no coincidence that you two have a strikingly similar taste in music, movies and clothes.

7.  She drove you everywhere.
It was way cooler to be picked up from soccer by your sister … Even if she did honk the horn and make a spectacle. You still got to be included in the car with older kids.

8.  She forgives you for everything.
From chewing the fingers off her Barbies when you were two years old to losing her sunglasses in 10th grade, somehow she forgives you. And you forgive her for too.

9.  She has been there since day one, literally. 
Your romantic partners show up later in life and parents leave us. But siblings are there for it all.

10.  She shares your childhood experiences.
For all of your firsts and most of your favorite memories, she was there.

11. She was also at your side during the bad times.
Being in the same family means losing the same loved ones. But, you got through it together.

12.  She understands your crazy family. 
She was there on every Lampoons-esque vacation. And, after all, you are her crazy family.

13.  She made you stronger.
It wasn’t always sharing clothes with permission and slumber parties. Sometimes you fought. These throw downs made you a tougher and better person. Because, if your big sister won’t call you out for being a brat, who will?

14. She taught you about relationships and drama.
Her social experiences, good and bad, served as a model for your own relationships. By the time you encountered your first mean girl, you were over the drama.

15.  She was the coolest person to you and your friends growing up. 
You and your friends would gossip about your big sister and other older kids.

16. She provides a second closet now that you are both *grown up.*
Somehow after years of trying to catch up to your sister, you have. Now, you can share clothes out in the open — without sneaking accessories from her room.

17. She still remembers the choreography and lines for the play you put on in the living room in 1994.
And, sometimes you still dust off the old act.

18.  She is a built-in Maid of Honor. 
No one else cares about your big day or understands your style as much as she does!

19.  She thinks you have the good eyes/nose/lips. 
But you think she’s gorgeous! So, you give each other confidence.

20.  She can be as protective as a mom.
There’s nobody who’s got your back like her. 

21.  She loves you unconditionally and with no judgement.
Always and forever. 

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