For Morgan

Sometimes you have friends that last for a season. 

Sometimes you have friends that last a few years. 

Sometimes you even have friends that last many years. 

But sometimes you have friends you've known so long that you can't really think back to the days when you weren't friends.

You've been friends for such a long time, in fact, that you might as well have been born into the same family.

Maybe you met in second grade--an age when everybody was interested in the same stuff, like playing pretend and mastering "Double Double This This".

Maybe you listened to the forbidden Backstreet Boys in her attic bedroom and wished you had as many Beanie Babies in your collection as she did in hers. 

Maybe you even went on trips with her family because she was an only child and you were free entertainment.

The two of you might've grown apart during the awkward teenage years because she went to real school and seemed to have more friends than you did.

Which made you jealous. 

Then, strangely enough, your friendship could've been saved by dating a pair of brothers and going on double dates...then having your hearts broken and being able to commiserate over it.

The two of you might have even had professional photos done together because...why not?

In college, you both may have become very different people.

You may have had a hard time finding common ground.

She liked Dr. Who.

You liked One Direction.

That was that.

You may have even gotten into fights because you didn't understand each other. 

But, for some weird reason, that didn't stop you from trying. 

After college, the two of you might have started down different life paths--but that didn't keep you from supporting each other because you were family and that's what family does.

Then, one day, that family may have expanded.

You went from just sister to Aunty.

And you were happier, prouder, and more excited have that title than you could've imagined back when you were in second grade, playing out in the sprinkler with the adventurous girl you called your best friend.