I would not be the person that I am today without the influence of my sibling. Their music, clothes, and personality shaped me into who I am today and gave me a different perspective on the world. A few years ago, my relationship with my siblings grew even when I didn't know they were part of my life. I never knew that they were there because we had our own things going on. I was in elementary school while they were in high school. Our schedules were different. I spent half of my life living under the same roof and sleeping in the same room with them before I actually got to know my sibling. I was under the impression that my older sibling didn't like me because I was the younger “annoying” sister. I would watch Disney a lot so I always compared our relationship to Disney shows; the older sibling was always doing their own thing.

The quarantine brought my sibling and me closer together. We were forced to stay home as everything began to close down. My sibling was in college at the time and they had to move back home. My parents were considered essential workers so they left home to go to work every day. This made my sibling and I hang out more often. We would listen to music together, hang out in the house, or go out on random trips. I would say the longer we hung out, the more I started to understand what they were showing and teaching me. They helped me learn that Mexicans like myself can be pale and started to express our culture around the house. We never celebrated our culture so when my sibling started to, it opened my eyes to a part of my identity that I have never understood.

Since they were teaching me new things, it was harder to learn and express myself. It was harder for me to express these things because of the religion and the “rules” in Mexican households. My family never expressed love to each other. My sibling was the first one to be affectionate in the family. We slowly got more connected and comfortable because they taught me how to be affectionate. When we have a bad day or something doesn’t go as planned, we learn to hug each other for comfort. They started to act like a parental figure by being emotionally and physically there for me, buying me things, and even being involved with my school. I used to feel like I didn’t fit in because no one was able to attend my school dances, conferences, and help around the school. They were the ones that started to show up when I needed them there.

After a few years, my sibling and I started expressing our emotions and started opening up more. They finished college and started living back home. We were inseparable after they came back. We hang out around our town and try to get involved with the community. I love when we do random things together because I like to spend time with them and it takes my mind off of stressful things. We now have a lot of things in common and I am always the one making them laugh or feel better in stressful situations. Now, they’re the only person I look forward to seeing when I go home. I can see that they're doing their best as I am and I hope to keep this relationship with them and maybe make it stronger.

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