Describe a family member.

Short of the fact that I would describe any of my family members in great detail, I won’t out of respect for their privacy.

I will, however, talk about my relationship with my younger brother.

My two older siblings are roughly four years apart in age, and the same from myself to one of them, so by the time one had graduated from high school it would be the next siblings turn to start. So I never got to see either of my older siblings in a school setting. My younger brother is a different story.

He and I are roughly two and a half years apart, so we attended the same high schools. At various points in our lives, until about part way through college, we would get into the occasional scuffle, else we were kind of just tolerating each other’s existence. We weren’t totally oil and water, but when things got heated the gloves would come off.

After getting through college and into our post-education adult lives things got markedly better. We were on great terms, we recognized and respected that we did actually have the same interests and sense of humor, and more than anything we looked out for each other.

Despite our relatively parallel directions in life, he was much more of a pillar for our family where I was kind of an anchor. Not in the sense that I was weighing the family down and holding them back, but if shit went sideways and someone needed help I could be there to keep things from getting worse (and possibly get things back on track,) but my brother was the one who would be the steadiest. The one we could rely on to be a pillar for the family like our parents. Now the family flocks to him and his wife.

I don’t think any of us could be where we are today without him.