December 17, 2021

As the youngest of three girls, my childhood consisted of hand-me-downs and constantly being asked “Are you a Webster?” by teachers. It bothered me, feeling like I was constantly compared to my sisters, a product of what they left behind. Yes, my closet consisted of hand-me-downs for all of middle school and yes, teachers were always asking who my siblings were. But that just meant I had pretty decent style (at least for a middle schooler) and started off on a good foot at the beginning of the school year. 

Having two older sisters means having two examples and role models to follow. Not only were they the guinea pigs to my parents (as my older sister and her indignation can attest to), but they provided guidance in navigating everything from college to avoiding sartorial mistakes to handling my parents. 

My sisters are people I look up to. My oldest sister Hayden is navigating her 20s with the confidence and ambition not many people have. And my middle sister Hadley is a hard-working badass, who is graduating college a semester early with a job lined up in New York City. 

With an age difference of two and five years between my sisters and I, our relationship has shifted over time. In my childhood, Hayden began to outgrow playing in our basement for hours, while Hadley and I continued to use our imaginations. As we grew up Hayden started high school with Hadley not far behind her, making me the annoying little sister in middle school. This eventually evolved into me being forced to take pictures of my sisters and them refusing to take pictures with me because I was the “braces troll.”

It started to shift when Hayden left for college and it was just Hadley and I at home. As a newly licensed high school junior and her freshman sister who loved to be driven by her sister, we grew closer. We bonded through drives to school and late-night ice cream runs, the typical big sister bonding moments that you see in teen movies. When Hadley left for college, my junior year of high school was my first year as an “only child”. Adjusting to an emptier house meant spending a lot of time alone-and learning to be okay with that. 

This stage taught me how important it is to become your own best friend. I began to enjoy these small moments of solitude, appreciating my drives to school and the hours I had the house to myself after school. There is only one person who has truly been here for your whole life: you. Through your highest highs and your lowest lows, you’ve been there for all of it-and that’s pretty amazing. Taking a minute to pause and look where you are in life, appreciate where you are today and recognize that you have been the one person who has been there your whole life. 

This is not to say we aren’t like all siblings with our disagreements and annoyances towards each other (don’t doubt the intensity of arguments over sharing clothes). But as we’ve gotten older and no longer live all together at once, we’ve come to value the times we do get to spend together. I’ve learned to appreciate the legacy that I get to join by being a “Webster Sister.” This might’ve all led to my favorite phase of all--being best friends with my sisters and being confident in myself to be my own best friend.

Parent’s Weekend 2021 

P.S. Hayden or Hadley if you’re reading this, don’t be too flattered <3