My Best Friend

Gratitude Challenge - Week 4 - Family Member

My best friend is my brother.

Normally, when I tell people this, they look at me like I am crazy. Yes, it is in fact possible for siblings to get along.

I touched on him a little bit in my last post, Family Movie Night - A Dysfunctional Saga, but he definitely needs, and deserves, a whole post related to him.

So, first comes first, he is three years younger than me, but he is extremely mature for his age. He is about 6'1", so he looks like he could be older than me (for comparison, I am 5'6"). When I was visiting colleges, they would sometimes believe he was the interested student, even when he was just a middle schooler. We look alike, so sometimes people even ask if we are twins.

Naturally, being just the two of us, we had two options; get along or be forced into incredible loneliness. We chose the former. I think people believe that "best friends" implies a seamless relationship. Although we do not fight often, it happens, and we annoy each other. But, at the end of the day, he is always there for me. I can always count on him to give me an honest opinion.

Our opposite natures allow us to be good friends. I am more talkative and outgoing (typical oldest child), while he tends to be quiet and reserved. I play the violin; he plays the drums. Thus, I listen to folk, indie, and classical music, while he blasts heavy metal in the bathroom at 6 am. I think these differences keep our relationship fresh, rather than hindering it. We both continue to surprise each other, even though we spend a lot of time together.

He is the only one who can read my emotions by just looking at my eyes. We have a certain level of "sibling telepathy", and often have conversations just with our eyes. When he is happy, I am happy.

I am so proud of him each and every day.

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles" ~ Christopher Reeve