The Three Musketeers... Sort Of.
I always wondered what it was like to be an only child and I'm certain anyone with siblings has too. Growing up as the only girl against two older brothers constant teasing, that thought crossed my mind almost every day. However, I've lived to concur the saying 'you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone'. Before you start jumping to conclusions, neither of my brother’s are 'gone' per se, but just a week short of my fourteenth birthday, my oldest brother, Reece, moved out.
Reece was ready to begin his own life at age 20, but I certainly wasn't. Watching his room become emptier and emptier, I was dreading the day he'd be saying goodbye to our family. Looking back, I might’ve been overacting considering he was moving to an apartment complex less than 15 minutes away, and when it came to our relationship, I wasn’t even that close to him due to our seven year age difference. But as a family, we shared so many memories and that was enough for me to miss him like crazy. We drove to his progressing, three bedroom apartment to help him move a few final things in. Fighting back tears, we bid farewell. I knew this definitely wasn't going to be the last time I see him but it still would be, for a while until.
The following days, there was a sense of emptiness in our house. The absence of contagious laughs and continuous comical remarks was going to take some time to get used to. But after Reece left, I realized my other brother, Noah, didn't have his best friend in the house anymore. Sure, Noah has plenty of friends at school and work, but having an older brother is always something he loved. Being so close in age, Noah and I bickered constantly over the stupidest things; however, this experience changed all of that.
Now I wouldn't say that we had no choice but to become close, but we really had no choice. From strenuous car rides while on vacation to quick ones to a nearby restaurant, it was always just us two in the back seat of my dad’s Civic. The awkwardness without Reece soon disappeared and Noah and I started bonding for the first time in a while. We would sing the same songs on the radio, craved the same thing for dinner, and would both roll our eyes every time our mom would tell us our chores for the day. I never knew how alike we really were! Even our parents attested to the fact that we were growing closer everyday and that made me so happy. What relieved me the most was that I hadn't felt the urge to hit him or rudely whisper "someone please adopt me" under my breath.
I really loved spending time with Noah and even more appreciated the time I got to spend with Reece. Every time we go as a family to visit Reece at his sushi restaurant, he welcomes me with a big hug and asks me how school is going. And now, since Reece’s departure, every morning on our way to school Noah and I will jam out to our favorite music and wish each other a good day. It just goes to show that you should always love your siblings, even when they do stupid things like make you cry by trying to put their gross feet in your mouth; because when they aren’t always around anymore and then you finally get to see them again, it'll always be that one story you'll never stop laughing at- together.
