My big brother is my best friend

You either love them or you hate them. Sometimes both at the same time. If you have an older brother, your childhood was probably both the best and worst time of your life. In my case, it alternated day by day, but the relationship my brother and I have developed over the past twenty years is worth all the fighting, bickering and tattle-telling we experienced as kids.

Consistent arguing and pestering is normal for brothers and sisters growing up, especially if you are only 18 months apart. First he acts up because you start to gain all the attention by being the baby of family, then he makes a snide remark about your morning appearance and you hit him with a shoe. It escalates pretty quickly.

Like I said, time spent with my brother was both the best and worst moments of my life. One minute we would be playing Legos with each other and the next we would be in a fist fight over the last blue 2 x 4 brick. Nevertheless, we would never fail in building a fantastic Lego set together.

For some reason, middle-school-aged kids are the worst. There is something in the water 11-14 year olds drink that makes them quick-tempered, unappreciative and obnoxious. These factors are especially common in the home environment when interacting with close siblings.

This is where the shoe-hitting comes in. Any action or comment from one sibling sets the other one off and usually causes a physical fight until mom or dad intervenes. This time of our lives was when my brother and I were most distant emotionally.

Of course we had our fun times playing and hanging out together, but since we are so close in age and were both experiencing the terrible pre-teen phase at the same time, we ended up butting heads more than anything.

And then the magical transition into high school occurred.

As we both began encountering drama with friends and family, my brother and I realized we needed each other more than anyone else. Who else can you turn to when you are fighting with your best friend or dealing with boy problems that your friends will not listen to and “mom and dad just don’t understand” besides your big brother?

Once we came to the realization we can actually trust and rely on each other, it was difficult for my brother and I to argue without quickly making up after. Having my brother as a best friend in high school was the coolest thing ever. (And it was not just because he had his license before I did).

No friends to hang out with? Brother is there to microwave some popcorn and watch Harry Potter. Having an argument with the parents? Brother thoroughly understands exactly what you are going through. Through these various scenarios in which my brother and I had no better choice but to turn to each other, we realized the importance of our relationship and came to truly appreciate it.

Although that appreciation has faltered here and there throughout the years, it has never completely diminished. Whether you were close with your siblings growing up or not, you cannot help but miss them when they move away to college.

Now if you were best friends with you sibling, multiply that feeling by 10.

When my brother left for college right before my junior year of high school, I had no idea we would be able to maintain the friendship we have today.

Watching movies, going to the mall and simply hanging out together is always the preferred option, but being hours away from each other gives my brother and me an opportunity to experience our friendship in a different way. When we were both home at the same time, we always knew what was going on in each other’s life, but since we are now far away from each other, we have to make the effort to reach out and tell the other one what is going on in our lives.

Unfortunately, not every brother-sister relationship is also a friendship, but if you are lucky enough to have that, do not let that go unnoticed. We will always have disagreements, but nothing will change the fact that he is my big brother, we are blood and I will always love him.

I may not always like him, but I will always love him. Always.