Life-changing experiences can happen at any given time. You never know if you're gonna be standing in line waiting for your white chocolate skinny latte at Starbucks or if, for the past six years you've been sitting next to the person who's gonna give your life a new purpose.
To me, however, the person who changed me has been a part of my life ever since I can remember, and I didn't start appreciating it until very recently.
He was born when I was one and for the longest time, he was my partner in crime. We did everything together and grew up in a household where our biggest worry was finding the chocolate that our mom had carefully hidden from us. As years went by and things got harder, we grew apart, and for about 10 years he was just the person who lived in the room next to mine. I felt that I didn't know him and he certainly didn't know me. We completely changed and became polar opposites, which not only made it hard for our families, but it also felt like there was no coming back from it.
Luckily, about one year ago we started getting closer and reconnecting. We started to learn how to open up to each other and enjoying each other's company. Even though things were going great, it wasn't until last week that I realized who he really was.
I was in town for less than 20 hours and he came over just to say hi. It was late and we were both tired but we just talked about life. He told me how tired he is of judgmental people. He told me how much he has learned from his girlfriend and that he has found a new respect for women. He told me that he wanted to fight for equality. He told me he was so interested in learning from others and he shared some of his life goals with me.
Trying to hold back my tears, I told him how proud I am of him and that's when I realized this boy has changed my life.
This week I have been feeling a little discouraged as I keep seeing all these horrible things about college guys raping women, women body-shaming each other, and violence becoming our main source for problem-solving. But, every time I have felt discouraged, I remember that there is at least one man out there who is trying as hard as I am to change this world. The best part? I get to call this man my brother.
Sometimes we don't realize that as different as we are, there are people around as that make us be better people. I have learned so much from him and will continue to do so as we grow together and keep fighting for a better life.
