Brotherhood

Families are certainly something, aren't they? Unlike the friends that we choose, they're the people God has somehow seen fit to throw together in a Government approved cohesive unit. :) Love them or hate them, most of our siblings have been around one way or another in our lives. Just this morning, something a friend of mine said about the way he was treated by his siblings left me thinking of my own relationship with my elder brother.


Me and my dorky brother...guess which one I am!
Most of the time, I find my brother an agreeable, convivial sort - the kind of guy you wouldn't mind buying a pint for in a joint. Let's face it, I have never been all that close to my older - and only - brother. Perhaps our enforced closeness when we were kids - due to the fact that we actually only had each other and we shared almost every damned thing - led to us growing apart as the terrible teen years approached. Hell, even now I can still feel the hair on the back of my neck prickling as I think of his gnashing teeth in the night - and I bet he'd have similar horror stories about my infrequent bouts of insomnia.

Still, I'd buy that pint for him... I just wouldn't hang around for more than an hour since we'd run out of conversation if his wife wasn't around. Although we do share similar views and opinions on certain issues most of the time, when it comes to our likes and dislikes, we seem to have almost nothing in common. He's into technological gadgets and financial planning while I'm heavily into interior decorating and books ( and you all know what a technohimbo I am, right? ). Despite popular opinion, neither of us were the most popular in school but we were far from social outcasts either. We had our own clique of friends in school that rarely mixed, despite sitting just two tables apart during recess. Although we're only two years apart, when we were kids he used to lord it over me as the elder brother but as we grew older, I managed to convince him to stop - threats, blackmail and some amount of bruising helped remarkably in the proceedings.

This is a guy who's shared a room with me far longer than even my longest relationship and there's no doubt that he has his suspicions about my prolonged bachelorhood. Various photobooks displaying half-naked men on my desk must have rung a few warning bells in his heterosexual brain. There are times that I've thought of coming out to him - and yet there are times when he's signalled to me that he knows and understands. Not only is he an extremely vocal proponent of gay rights during our weekly family discussions ( oddly enough! ), so far he's the only one in the family who hasn't pressured me into engaging the affections of every available single lady in a 10 mile radius.

Even now, we still share our weekly dinners and our lives - but rarely our private thoughts - but I can swear there's no one else I'd rather turn to in a spot of trouble. Although I assume he once thought I was a flighty, feckless sort, I think his opinions have changed vastly since then. The fact that he frequently entrusts his precious infant daughter to my care proves the point, I think.

What does all this seeming meaningless blather mean? All I have to tell my friend is this... even though I'm no longer privy to my brother's inner thoughts ( that's for my sister-in-law to marvel at ), I do know him and I do love him. And he feels the same oddly fraternal feelings for me - and please, I don't think the responsible fella would ever leave me stranded ( with no available means of transport ) at home without the keys to his car. The man's not stupid, he knows I'm a vengeful Scorpio. We don't get mad. We get even.

And let's face it, he's my brother after all.