Un petit homage pour mon frere dorky.
May. 30th, 2003 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
judecorpToday is my big brother's birthday.
It would be laughable to say that we always got along, that we were thick as thieves, that we schemed our way through childhood with an unbreakable bond. That didn't happen. We fought often, and hard. We were very different, and had very different ways of reacting to the same situations. And each other's reactions often added to the fighting. I have scars to prove it.
Things weren't easy in our house, and I'm sure that only added to the chaos and the ruckus. And then he went to college, and as soon as we dropped him off and came back home, I emptied his room and took it over. I threw all of his leftover things in my old room and settled into his bigger space, with his bigger closet and better furniture. But I kept some of the posters.
And then I started writing letters to him. And he wrote back. And I got to visit him, and college, and experience what he was going through, what I would go through in a short while. Preparation. Mentoring. Leadership. Support. And I realized that we weren't quite as different as I thought, though we /did/ see things from two different pairs of eyes. And both pairs were smart and insightful. And then I went to college, and we were adults, and we were siblings. But more than that, I think, we were friends. /Are/ friends. We lived in different states in the 1990s, and once we converged at a party in North Carolina. I hadn't seen my brother in several months. When I walked in the door, we immediately began finishing each other's sentences. A fellow party-goer asked how long we'd 'been together.' "Oh, about 20 years. That's my little sister."
My brother is someone I am proud to introduce, both as a relation and as a person. My brother is someone I know I can always depend on. My brother is the beneficiary of all of my life insurance, because he is my next of kin. My brother is my pride and joy. As we have aged, we have begun resembling each other more and more - shape of face, mannerisms and expressions, laughter, hair color. I am so glad for that, because then everyone knows he is my brother.
I want everyone to know that he is my brother. Happy birthday, Ricko. You are a really big dork.
It would be laughable to say that we always got along, that we were thick as thieves, that we schemed our way through childhood with an unbreakable bond. That didn't happen. We fought often, and hard. We were very different, and had very different ways of reacting to the same situations. And each other's reactions often added to the fighting. I have scars to prove it.
Things weren't easy in our house, and I'm sure that only added to the chaos and the ruckus. And then he went to college, and as soon as we dropped him off and came back home, I emptied his room and took it over. I threw all of his leftover things in my old room and settled into his bigger space, with his bigger closet and better furniture. But I kept some of the posters.
And then I started writing letters to him. And he wrote back. And I got to visit him, and college, and experience what he was going through, what I would go through in a short while. Preparation. Mentoring. Leadership. Support. And I realized that we weren't quite as different as I thought, though we /did/ see things from two different pairs of eyes. And both pairs were smart and insightful. And then I went to college, and we were adults, and we were siblings. But more than that, I think, we were friends. /Are/ friends. We lived in different states in the 1990s, and once we converged at a party in North Carolina. I hadn't seen my brother in several months. When I walked in the door, we immediately began finishing each other's sentences. A fellow party-goer asked how long we'd 'been together.' "Oh, about 20 years. That's my little sister."
My brother is someone I am proud to introduce, both as a relation and as a person. My brother is someone I know I can always depend on. My brother is the beneficiary of all of my life insurance, because he is my next of kin. My brother is my pride and joy. As we have aged, we have begun resembling each other more and more - shape of face, mannerisms and expressions, laughter, hair color. I am so glad for that, because then everyone knows he is my brother.
I want everyone to know that he is my brother. Happy birthday, Ricko. You are a really big dork.
