From an early age, my parents always taught me that no matter how annoying or embarrassing my older brothers could be, they would always stand by me despite the situation. I quickly learned that my parents were absolutely right.
Without a doubt, I was the “accident child” in my family. My brother Shawn is twelve years older than me and Ryan is seven years older. I didn’t mind the age difference considering they were forced to play with me while simultaneously babysitting me. However, it really wasn’t much fun considering most of it consisted of wrestling and typically ended with me in tears and a bloody nose. I may have been my brothers’ personal dummy to try out different wrestling moves but I swear it wasn’t all terrible! I definitely got my revenge by going through all of their stuff and eating all of their Halloween candy while they were at school. I spent many years and still continue to steal their favorite t-shirts and basketball shorts for my own comfort and even eat the food they were definitely hiding in the fridge to keep me away. We always made it a point to never stop irritating each other to no ends.
Our relationship was never the picture perfect family. Many punches were thrown and days of silence have passed as a result of petty arguments and name calling like “fart knocker” or “turd”. Despite our childish and immature antics, that sadly still occur to this day, we still always have each other’s backs.
My brothers always taught me that life is all about balance like when to be protective and keep me on a leash, compared to helping me convince my parents that staying an hour past my curfew definitely won’t get me killed. We always kept each other in line by making sure we were being honest and constantly telling the truth because otherwise one or the other would definitely be telling mom or dad. This created the beginning to our no secrets bond and unconditional trust.
Your siblings will always be your partner in crime and they will never be scared to tell you the honest truth no matter how brutal it is. They don’t care for sugar coating the obvious or put in mind how much you really don’t want to hear the facts especially if it hurts because they’d rather it come from them than dare let anyone else be the ones to crush your feelings. You will even learn some of the greatest life lessons through your sibling’s lives. Whenever a mistake was made, my brothers made sure that not only did they learn their lesson but that I was able to learn from it too.
Despite the constant teasing, the three of us have only ever wanted the best for each other and have always put the others happiness first. However, time is getting to us and we’re all grown up and moving on with our lives. We have all left behind our childhood homes and the many memories we’ve created together. I’m sure that most of us with siblings can relate that no matter how many miles keep us apart the irreplaceable bond we share with our dorky brother or sister, can never be broken. Despite the constant nagging and yelling, my brothers went from being a part of my life due to the forces of nature to my best friends, whom I can always count on.
Sheetal Tadiparty
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