Many people have made good and poor influences on me throughout my life, some were from family, and others were friends or even strangers. One of my greatest, lifelong best friends and only sibling is my brother, Kyle. My brother and I are two and a half years apart but personally, the age difference is perfect. We were so close when we were young kids growing up even though he and his friends bullied me until they matured and grew up a bit; then he took a turn and fell downhill quickly. Starting in middle school is when he started getting involved with the law in a negative way, and then it was smoking marijuana and partying to heroin, and anything he could get his hands on.

Waking up every day and getting out of bed in a hurry to go check your brothers pulse is not one of a young sisters normal tasks in the morning but it needed to be done so I made it a top priority. He surprisingly made it through high school and graduated with a decent GPA. He has made a negative influence on me but I made it a positive influence by making it my goal not to go down the hill my brother took. Even though my brother did not intend to take this road, he still is my brother and I love him more than anything does. Him going through treatment and finding where he stands in life is what makes me keep faith in life and in honor of his sobriety I got a tattoo of 'Faith' on my hip.

The worst influence he left scarred in my mind was July 5, 2012. This is also my mom's birthday, he went through a withdrawal so severe I cannot disclose the details of what he did. So severe, my mom had to call the cops and multiple cops and the canine units had to come and chase Kyle down; he ended up being sniffed out by a dog and was found in a random persons garbage can. He was then resisting arrest and charged with assault and resisting arrest.

He then sat in jail going through a nine-day withdrawal and nothing to help. He then came clean to the juvenile nurses and they did a drug evaluation. He got court ordered to treatment and struggled with the rules, yet he pulled through and has been clean for 372 days today. He is my most important influence and I believe he always will be. I love him and will always have faith in him.

Knowing my parents and grandparents are all recovering addicts to different substances really weans it down to my brother, our possible children, and me if we decide to get married to significant others and have kids later in life. Addictions and personality traits passed down to offspring. What life comes down to is your personality and how you present yourself to be. If I were to put myself in a situation I will be honest, I would struggle saying no to some things. Keeping my tattoo and my brother in mind always helps me. Thank you Kyle, for being such an impact on my life and great influence.