Time Marches On

I have discovered that defining a brother/sister relationship is a very difficult task. My brother's recent move has prompted several questions lately from my friends. Were you two close growing up? Are you close now? Do you talk a lot? Are you sad he's moving? These questions have caused me to reminisce and walk down memory lane.


Were we close growing up? Ummm....I'm gonna go with "no" on this one. Unless you count lots of fighting, drawing lines down the middle of the backseat of the car to distinguish "my side" and "your side", and an immeasurable number of "I'm telling on you!"'s as CLOSE. Close to killing each other maybe. But, I do think we were typical. Find me a brother and sister nearly five years apart in age who did not do these things, and I'd like to do a case study on them.

When we weren't plotting each other's demise (ok, we really weren't that bad), there were some fun moments. My favorite memories include building Lego creations together, and racing our bikes down the boat ramp at the lake to see who could flip over the handlebars the farthest. We also thought it was great when we both had bedrooms in the basement, away from mom and dad and what felt like their never-ending list of chores. That backfired a bit, however, when our rooms got so trashed that mom took Polaroid pictures of each room and hung them on the refrigerator. She must have been so proud.

Throughout our adult years, we have had times of living far apart - Phoenix to Kansas is no short jaunt; and times of living close together - separated by a mere flight of stairs. Sometimes we talk a lot, sometimes very little. Sometimes we agree on issues, sometimes we don't. Our life experiences have been extremely different, and oddly enough, I think that has only created an increased understanding of one another.

So, are we close? Yes. Do we talk a lot? Sometimes. Am I sad? Yes. His move means fewer holidays together, no Saturday night free meals from mom and dad, and definitely no more building sandcastles with my kids at the lake for awhile.

However, his move means a new start filled with all kinds of possibilities for him. It also means we have to be way more intentional about communicating, and honestly, that is a good thing.

Most of all, I'm pretty sure he is where he is supposed to be right now. And I'm pretty sure I am where I am supposed to be right now. So for now, that is enough.