Every morning it was the same routine. I would be awaken to the sound of my brother Steven wailing about how nervous he was for his math exam. Across the hall, I would hear my other brother Dean scream, "Shut up!" This would continue on for seven more years. At least I thought.
As we picked up our bagged lunch that was pre-made the night before from our mom, we were out the door. It was always such a struggle to get the three of us on the bus in the morning. One of us would forget something, the other would be still brushing their teeth, you get the point.
Finally, high school came around and we were so ecstatic to be able to drive to school. It took a village to get us up in the morning at 5:30, but we did it. Dean and I would make Steven drive everyday and in turn we would be able to get a few extra minutes of either sleep, homework or study time. We had it down to a science and no one could tell us otherwise.
We knew that when we were going to go off to college, it would be hard to piggyback off of each other and be separated. We all had qualities that benefited each other. For example, Steven would help us with studying, Dean would keep us up to date with activities, and I, well I guess I was just there. Whatever, I was the funny one, and arguably still am. Anyway, it would be rough and we all knew it was going to come to an end.
Senior year would roll by and we started getting accepted into colleges. We all were pretty equal up until December 8th, when I got into Tulane University. I was very set on leaving and going out-of-state. My brothers had their eyes as well set on other schools, for Dean it was Florida State and Steven had a Miami Research position. However, when we all received word that we were accepted into the University of Florida, it all became too real. I finally decided against Tulane, Steven figured out his situation and Dean finally realized UF was the better option for him.
One night at dinner, after Dean and I had committed to UF, Steven finally made his decision and we were a house reunited once again. It's funny, I remember thinking to myself, "At least we will live separately", but I guess I spoke too soon and fast forward a few months I'm walking over to wake Dean up in his room to get to his 12:50, while Steven passes us over by his room on his way to the gym. We all get in the elevator of Cypress Hall and we split to our respective places. Life is better together.
