There are those moments when you realize you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Recently, my older brother, Grant, went off to college. In our earlier years, you wouldn’t say we got along so well. You could have explained our relationship as a cat and a mouse game. We fought about everything. From arguing about what we wanted to watch on television, to fighting about who sat where at the dinner table, a disagreement could arise from anywhere. As the years went on, and the both of us matured, we learned to get along with each other. It started out when I entered high school that I realized I had the most amazing brother possible. I can’t tell if it was him always looking out for me, asking me for girl and clothing advice, or always knowing how to put me in a better mood. I felt like the luckiest sister in the world. I always knew that if I needed help with something or I wanted someone to talk to, he was there. We shared many enjoyable moments together, as well. I recognized that he was not only my brother, but he was my best friend, too. We have inside jokes, contests where we endlessly post hilarious YouTube videos on each other’s facebook wall, and random moments when we will make each other laugh hysterically by quoting funny lines from movies. When I would ask my friends about the relationships they had with their siblings, they didn’t even come close to the kind of relationship my brother and I had. Fortunately, without him home I don’t have to see his room look like a tornado hit it, or yell at him about eating the last slice of pizza that I told him was mine.

Without him home, it definitely feels like something is missing. I suppose I never really understood what it would have been like without him home until he actually left. I no longer look forward to coming home and seeing an empty room. I truly miss the moments when I got home from school and he would already have a humorous story to share with me. When my brother left, it finally hit me how important he is to me and made me realize how he is a spectacular brother.