Erma Bombeck describes a family so well when she says, “The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.”
The love of siblings is one that is both hard and easy. Just like Bombeck says we are “inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending…” My two younger brothers and I fight a lot. But when one of us are in trouble the other two are always the first ones there to fix the problem, defend one another, to bring a smile or a good laugh. Out of the two Austin is the easiest to love. We are the closest in age and the farthest apart in personality.
Austin is a peacemaker; I am I fighter. He is problem solver; I am a problem maker. But the characteristic I love most about Austin is that he is selfless; I am selfish. Whenever he has something I want, 90% of the time he will give it to me. The other 10% of the time, he will split it with me.
I remember when we were little; I was about 6 Austin was about 4, there was only one Little Debbie treat left. My mom unwrapped it and gave it to me with instructions that I was to share it with my brother. I sat there and ate bite after bite after bite, not once giving Austin a taste. He sat there quietly, never asking for some, never screaming to my mom that I was not sharing, he just sat there and watched the Little Debbie grow smaller and smaller with each bite I took. I kept eating, I came to the last bite and handed the little piece to Austin, he looked at me and said “thank you sissy”, and that’s when mom walked in. She soon realized that the only bite I had given my brother was that last little bit. She asked Austin if I had shared, Austin looked up at her with that last bite still in his hand and said, “yes mama” and lifted the piece up to show her. She scolded me and I knew that I had not been nice to him. Mom told me that she was going to buy Austin a whole box of treats and I was not going to get one, and I would have to sit next to him and watch him eat them each time. I screamed and cried and pitched the biggest fit. The selfless boy that he is came up to me and said, “It’s ok sissy, and I’ll share with you.” Now, 13 years later that is the same attitude he carries. He does not only have this attitude toward our family but toward every person he meets. He wakes up at 3:30am once a month to go help feed homeless people, while I stay in bed and sleep until the last possible second. He parks the car when it rains and pumps the gas when it’s cold. I have been trying for years to somehow learn this selflessness he carries and I have come nowhere near to perfecting it the way he does. But he is not the only one who looks out for me and my needs and my wants. My youngest brother looks after me too, but in a much different way. Adam plays the part of the protector.
Although he is 4 years younger than I am, Adam acts as if he is the older one. Always looking out for me, always making sure I am going to be ok. He always insists he does things first to make sure its safe for me. Even when I wish I could experience something first I know that he is just looking out for me. I know that he would much rather end up with the broken arm or busted lip that to let me go through those pains. When we built a ramp to ride our bikes over he went first, and came out with a busted mouth, bruised hands, and scrapped knees. When we ride the 4-wheeler; he goes first to make sure it’s running right. When we are eating something new for the first time, he tastes it first to see if I will like it. He is always looking out for me, always putting himself on the front line so I don’t have to.
I remember he was in Kindergarten, I was in 4th grade, and we were walking home from school. A boy from my class who caused all types of trouble rode his bike up right next to us and started poking fun at me. Still walking along Adam looks at this boy and says, “Randy, leave her alone, go home.” As you may guess this caused more poking fun and just provoked Randy to keep talking. Adam walked over to Randy, pushed him over on his bike, and yelled “I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE HER ALONE AND GO HOME!!!” he then looked at me, “SISSY! RUN!” he looked back at Randy on the ground and said, “Don’t ever talk to her again.” He ran by me grabbed my hand and we ran home as fast as we could. Panting as we ran in the house my mom asked what was going on, I started to explain, “Well, you see, Randy was annoying me and,” my brother interjected, “Nothing happened, I took care of her and he won’t talk to her ever again” then he walked off like nothing had happened. From a young age he has been the protector. He, just like I am, is a fighter. He goes looking for fights and arguments. This has caused all of our fights with one another. We rip each other down and say the worst things to one another when we fight. But I know at the end of the day, if someone is mistreating me, Adam will be the first person to put him or her in his or her place. I am not looking forward to the day that a boy really breaks by heart, because I am 100% positive that that boy will have a fun encounter with Adam.
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