A BROTHER
A brother is someone you grow up laughing at. Sometimes to tease him, but mostly because he reminds you of a smaller version of your self.
He is someone you watch grow, from a tiny little pink thing, to a high school athlete; from a shaggy, aimless traveller to a peer that you respect.
A brother is someone you learn to appreciate with time. You teach him your games, show him your hideouts, and appreciate his company. You laugh and learn together. A brother is someone to wrestle with, and even though you are bigger, you rarely cut him a break. You want him to grow up strong, to be confident and proud and self-assured, and it is this early abuse you use as your tool.
A brother is someone you grow towards. You learn to share those things that were always yours alone. You play video games together, you build forts, you pass on your favourite books and let him watch the movies you were never allowed to watch.
You do these things for your brother because you want him to succeed where you failed. You almost want him to become another version of you, perhaps so that you might figure out who exactly you are.
One day you wake up and realize that your brother isn’t another you. You realize that somehow, he has become sometime entirely different. Something even better.
A brother can scare you with his death defying acts. He can injure himself and be hospitalized, and even though you know he is all right, the terror of that moment is almost too much to acknowledge because you realize his indiscretions might have been brought on by your own guidance.
A brother is someone who is always there for you, a quiet presence and a close friend. You might travel the world, but he is always there with you in a way, and when you return home and he sets out on his own global adventures, you realize just how much you miss him.
A brother is someone you can assess because you have witnessed his whole existence, vicariously at times, but the changes over time are always noticeable.
A brother might start out as a nuisance, but he soon becomes someone you admire.
My brother is no longer the gapped toothed little kid who doesn’t look anything like me. He is now a man, a success, and one of my closest friends. People now mistake us for each other as well, a fact that always amuses me.
He represents a lot of the same things I do – an appreciation for good times, a late-developed ethic for hard work, a lust for fine food and drink, an urge to see new places and experience new cultures, and a reverence for family. There are aspects of me in there, leftovers from his formative years - his appreciation for movies, and books, and time spent with friends, but those are just small parts of the man I know today.
They say you can choose your friends, but not your family, but I for one would have chosen him either way. He is great company during the wild times, and the quieter ones. My brother has an effortless cool that I sometimes envy, and that is something he developed all on his own.
My brother is someone that I don’t mind looking up to, especially since he is that little bit taller. He always had my love, but he has earned my respect over the years and it is something I willingly extend.
Happy Birthday Ryan…
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