My best friend is named Jason, but when I feel like being funny, I say that my only friend is my seven-years-younger-than-me brother, Nicholas. All of my friends love Nick. He is so cool and great and awesome. Being away from him for a year was really hard. His birthday was just two weeks after I moved to my campus. I got to FaceTime him and I cried afterwards because I missed him so much. So now that I’m about to embark on Year Two with No Nick, I have to preemptively write an article gushing about him filled with pictures so when I get sad and homesick I can read this.
1. He has a wide variety of goofy Nick-names.
We have called Nick Nicholas. We have also called him Nick-Knack, Nick-Knack Patty-Whack, Nick-Knack Patty-Whack Diggadogabone (how he used to say it as a toddler) (yes, from that song “This Old Man”). We call him “Bock” which I am certain is from a song but I can’t remember which one, Nicholas-Pickleus and Nicko (pronounced “Knee-cko”). He has been called Nickelmore (and then sometimes “dime” because it’s more than a nickel), Nickleback, Nickus and, according to him, Nicki Minaj. Here is Nicholas standing outside a store that was NAMED after him!
2. He is interested in the same things that I am.
We have always bonded over books, shows, games and now theatre together (This picture is of Nick playing Big Jule in Guys and Dolls. He kept this face the entire show). We watch Steven Universe together and play Legend of Zelda and Pokémon together. When I run out of room for more fanart and other posters, I know he’ll always be interested in the ones I’m peddling off. Even when we are interested and enjoy one thing the other doesn’t, we find ways to force them to watch/participate in it anyways. (I am making him watch Ouran High School Host Club. He had to show me POPS (a youtube show) in exchange).
3. He really enjoys cosplay.
It is so much fun to bring him to conventions and see him dress up as different characters because a) it’s an adorable small child dressing up as beloved characters and b) he’s genuinely so good at it??? Here is him cosplaying Tom Riddle for the Cursed Child release along with my friend dressed like Luna Lovegood:
Here he is, cosplaying Red from the Pokémon games
Here we both are, cosplaying BOTH of the Heroes of Time from Legend of Zelda
We went to Harry Potter World in 2012. He dressed up like Harry Potter (keep in mind he was only nine) and a bunch of teenagers started to fangirl over him and pretend he was the Real Harry Potter and it made his face light up.
4. He’s this weird clone of my older brother and myself.
My high school English department has started calling Nick, who is not yet in the seventh grade, Ender or “The Third” because of his semblance in appearance and personality to my brother Jacob and I (the name being a reference to “Enders Game”). Nicholas loves performing, loves videogames and loves to be ecstatic about everything he enjoys. He loves reading, science, learning and understanding things and sometimes is so engrossed in reading that you need to wave your hand in front of the book in order to get his attention.
5. He is so considerate and kind.
Nicholas is 12 and is somehow more understanding and accepting than full grown adults. He actively works on not gendering people he just met, he is amazing with kids younger than him, he makes an effort to use pronouns that he isn’t used to using, and he is an amazing listener.
6. All of my friends are obsessed with him.
(I thought I had a picture of him with my friends but I was Mistaken).
Every one of my friends who has interacted with Nicholas has fallen in love with him. They’re always so surprised that he’s so cool and mature. He’s been invited to my friend’s birthday party, to my friend’s house, and encouraged to hang out every time I’m set to spend time with someone. My heart swells every time someone new meets/sees him and freaks out about how cool or cute or awesome he is.
7. He is always a happy go lucky guy.
He has always had the cutest smile ever that just brighten everyone’s day. Nick is usually so happy and it’s infectious.
8. You can carry a mature conversation with him.
He’s 12 now, but in my head he’s been 12 since he was eight he is so mature. I’ve had conversations with him about activism, about the Baltimore riots and so many other things. It has never felt like I’ve needed to talk down to him or act like he couldn’t possibly understand. He is so clever and smart and every conversation with him is an adventure. He's also an incredible writer, making me pretty jealous.
9. He makes the best faces EVER.
I really don’t need a description for this.
Just look at the GLORY.
10. He’s the light of our family.
Just because he's seven years younger than me doesn't really make him the baby of our family. We mean he keeps us hopeful. He keeps us optimistic. He brings the magic to a lot of things in our lives that events have sucked the happiness out of. Nicholas keeps on bringing his wonderful self to everything he does and spreads his happiness to fill up the spaces that were left. He is so important to our family and to me, and I can’t imagine life without him.
