30 Days of Introspection - Day 11

[paulacas]

 

Day 11 – Your siblings

 

My brother, Jim, is 3 years younger and the father of three girls and a boy. He works for the local Board of Education in maintenance, and has been married to Donna for 26 years. His son, Mark, doing a tour in Afghanistan, and oldest daughter, Sarah, in AIT at Ft. Bragg, are in the Army, while his next to the youngest is an Air Force SF (Security Force) in Montana. The youngest, Amy, a senior in high school, is making plans to be a history teacher.

 

We were never what I think of as close. I spent my summers and school vacations until I was 13 on my grandparents’ farm while he stayed with mom and dad. After we moved back to my parents’ hometown, we both spent time helping the grandparents, but it never seemed to be at the same time.

 

He started hanging with a bad crowd after high school, so my folks and I talked him into moving to Oklahoma City and staying with me. Even then, we were so different in our thinking and way of life, our relationship was superficial, which continues to this day, and often saddens me when I see the relationships other people have with their siblings. Because we are so different, me being the family eccentric and just too out there for regular people, I think when my father dies that we’ll probably only communicate through his kids.