My Brother: My Enemy, My Friend

Do you believe in the saying that the sibling that was born immediately before or after you will be your biggest enemy as a kid?

I can attest to that. My older brother and I used to fight like cats and dogs. I mean really. Fighting like cats and dogs seemed to be a weaker description. Believe me, we fought like it's the last war on earth. There's shouting, kicking, pinching, punching... You name it, we did it.

As we grew older, I found that out of all the siblings I have, we two have the most in common. He introduced me to music. As a result, I saw my biggest musical influence which lead me to play the guitar. Not only that, when he went away to college, sometimes he'd visit us on the weekends: He'd spend all his time with me. He brought me music magazines, music videos. We talked, we had debates... Nevertheless, we spent quality times with each other.

After awhile, inevetable circumstances lead as physically apart. We lost touch. We never talked. It seemed that life for both of were so busy. Until recently, my parents visited him. My mother talked about what my brother have been into, what kind of life he has. Then it hit me, I am missing him so much. Not only that, but I am so ashamed of myself that I didn't make the effort to be in touch with him. I didn't know his hobbies or what his friends call him, what food he likes, what music he listens to now... etc. It just tore me up.

Now, I try my best to be in touch with him. I don't forget his birthdays or christmas, or any other holidays. Sometimes, just for no reason at all, I write him letters or call him. It's still not the same as seeing him, but I'm hoping that someday, in the very near future, I will fly to see him or vice versa and get caught up.