Growing up with an older brother is definitely not all sunshine and rainbows. Especially if you're the little sister. You have someone to pick on you for the rest of your life, and they take that job very seriously. There is a mere 18 months between my brother and I and he won't let me forget it.
Him being in my life has been both a blessing and a curse. Ever since I can remember I have despised my brother. He has always been that much smarter than me, funnier than me, more outgoing than me and I was extremely jealous. When we were younger we would always argue with one another, screaming and telling the other that we hated them in the heat of the moment; we never meant it though. We have this family home video from when we were toddlers where I was so mad at him for not giving me the broom in the play set, he gave me the dustpan. The lousy dustpan.
Now what's a kid gonna do with the play dustpan? You gotta wait until something is swept up by the broom in order to use the dustpan. The dustpan depends on the broom in order to fulfill its duty as a dustpan. Of course I didn't realize it then because I didn't know symbolism was a thing, but I am the dustpan and my brother is the broom. Now I'm not saying that my brother is more important than me or that I think less of myself, because that's not the case. What I realized was that my brother depends on me just as much as I depend on him. You need a dustpan to pick up the mess, and you need the broom to actually sweep up the mess. They have to be used together in order to get the most out of each other. I rely on my brother just as much as he relies on me. Together we can accomplish so much.
Believe me when I say that our relationship has had its downfalls, but at this point in our lives we are closer than ever. I don't know if I would have made it this far in life without my brother. He was even by my side when I thought I wanted to go to Ole Miss — now that means something.
He's made me want to rip my hair out and punch him in the face. He can be the most annoying person known to man, but it's because I know he's right. He knows what's best for me and I can't thank him enough for his guidance and advice. No matter what I say to people, I do love my brother and I wouldn't trade him for anything else. Sometimes I wish that mom would have actually thrown you away in the trash can so the garbage men can take you away, but I'm glad she didn't. I know I'm not the easiest person to be around, but thank you for being there anyway.
The textbook definition of a brother is "a man in relation to other siblings of his parents." They fail to mention the main part of having a brother. You have a friend that you can conquer life with forever. I couldn't have been more lucky to have a better brother.