Skip to main content

Oh, Brother

So, I told you about one of the most prevalent people in my life, my dearest darling-est roomie Alyssa. Now, the other four months out of the year when I don't live with her, I live at home with my mom, dad, and four siblings. In actuality I am one of eleven siblings and half-siblings; there are four boys and seven girls.Yeah, it is a lot, but our ages vary so widely- late thirties down to seventeen- that we've never had the chance to all live together. For this little blip, I thought I'd focus on three of these eleven, which are the three brothers I live with at home. Their names are Tony, Tyler, and Daniel.

I'll start with Daniel, since he is the oldest. Dan is about sixteen months older than I am, so age-wise, we are pretty close. He plays clarinet and saxophone like nobody's business, he loves computers and roller coasters, and he is a hard worker.  He takes great pride in his car, and really enjoys driving it. He is also one of my favorite East Coast Swing Dance (AKA Jitterbug) partners; we have a blast.

When we were just little, probably up until I was five, he and I were inseparable; we were often mistaken for twins. That connection weakened for a long while, but I feel like it's coming back. Over the years we've fought, of course, and haven't always been very close. these last few years, however, especially since the summer before college, we have grown closer. Whenever I feel the need to freak out about something, be it stress or injustice, or just a television show I've been watching, he is happy to just sit and listen to me, occasionally give some input, but mostly just smiling and chuckling at my reactions. Whenever something major happens in my life, he's one of the first people I want to tell. During breaks, sometimes if we're bored we'll just get into his car, maybe go have a picnic or just do something fun. I am so happy that I have him and that we've gotten so much closer more recently. He is such a good big brother, as well as a really fantastic friend.

Next is my brother Tyler. He's not the second, but rather the youngest. By one minute. He and Tony are twins, born October 10th. They are about sixteen months younger than I am. It's a little strange how that worked out. Anyway, despite being twins, Tyler and Tony are crazy different in appearance and personality. Tyler is brunette with hazel eyes, like me actually. He is tall- not like me- and is a bit on the husky side. Recently, I was flabbergasted to discover that in the four months between summer and a Christmas musical he was in, not only did he become a better actor, but DANG that boy can sing! I was super proud of him. 

Tyler and I have never been crazy close, but we're working on it. Our interests are really different, but like Daniel, I sometimes let him rant about whatever his fancy is. He has a really big heart, and he can be a really sweet person, though I think out of all my siblings he's the one I bicker with the most. I try not to, but hey, I'm his older sister- it's in the job description. But seriously, he is a great person, and I love him very very much.

Last but not least is Tony. There's a lot to say about Tony. He is a very intelligent guy- I'm pretty sure if he set his mind to it, he could do whatever he wanted to to in life. He has both the intellect and personality to do well in whatever he likes. What he seems to like is literature and English- I'm so proud. Unlike his twin, he is dirty blonde, and frankly, doesn't look andything like the rest of my family. I've heard my mom say that he looks more like her first husband than Dad, which is weird because her first husband was long gone when Tony came around. *shrug* He, like his twin, has one of the most wonderful voices. For his choir's fall concert, he sang "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, and I nearly cried, as did pretty much everyone else in the audience. Completely blown away and ridiculously proud. I was just like "Yep, that's MY brother! Woohoo!" Also, most favorite brother to play match-maker with. I'm just like, "here, I'd like her as my sister, so you two would be cute together." It's too much fun. I really should stop. But instead I think I'll just pull the older sister card again. ; )

He is so stubborn, and incredibly opinionated. He is logical yet often ridiculous. He is so funny, and is, unlike most of my family, often considered a "popular kid," despite being part of the homeschooling community.  Of all my brothers, he is the one that can rile me up the most. He is also probably my best friend. Since we were young we were pretty much joined at the hip. He and I act more like twins that he and Tyler do! There are many times when he'll start to ask a question and I'll answer him before he's done talking. When we were little we would play in our backyard, Tony and me against our imagined world of fairytale creatures and kingdoms, or we'd be explorers, or we'd just have whatever adventure we could find. When I go home, he and I always make time to just hang out and do something, watch a long movie or visit with friends. I brag on all of my brothers to my friends, but I think I probably brag on him the most. In my opinion, everyone should have a Tony in their lives.

All of my brothers are super incredible people. I have been so blessed to have such wonderful brothers. I can't even think of a fictional situation- a movie or a book- where I've seen brothers that can even come close to mine. I often wonder how I got so lucky to be able to have some permanent claim on three such fantastic guys, and I can know for certain that I'll always have them when I need them. <3 Sure, they can be annoying sometimes, but what brothers aren't? They have their flaws- which I will never cease exploiting, teasing, and getting on their case about- but I couldn't ask for better brothers. : )

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby, It's Cold Outside

So originally I had another idea planned for post numero dos, however I have been otherwise inspired. : ) Why? Because it's snowing in Waynesburg, and for the first time this winter, it is sticking for more than a couple of hours, and there are actually several inches of the fluffy whiteness on the ground. I have a love-dislike relationship with snow. Or rather, I love snow, but I really dislike the one property that makes it a possibility, and that would be the cold. If snow could come without freezing my butt off, I would be unbelievably stoked. And a little concerned. But mostly stoked. Oh, and it's also not so great for those of us who have an issue walking straight normally. So yeah, it has its perks and its downsides, but who really wants something to be really fun and pretty if it doesn't also have the quality of making everyone's uncoordinated friends make a fool of themselves? I mean, elegance is awesome, but it's pretty great to know that it can add a

Okay, so it's not so bad

Okay, so I realize that my last post was kind of whiny and sad. I legitimately did not mean to make my roommate feel bad about leaving me all alone, so sorry about those things. After about two weeks of Pittsburgh, I think I'm feeling a little better about the whole thing, though. And also I'm still kind of a little hermit who is starting to forget what the sun looks like, I've just read nearly two hundred pages of history homework, and so I've decided to spend some time blogging. Anyway. There are still some big cons to being here: I swear I can hear everything that happens outside this building, and the windows and doors are all completely shut, I checked. I can't hear other tenants, but that group of adolescent boys walking down the street and being generally ruckusy, I can hear them and the car alarm across the way clear as day. And also bus passes are freaking expensive and make me a sad person, especially since the whole job thing has not happened yet. But

Save the last dance for me.

"Darling, save the last dance for me." "It might be me, but the way I see it, the whole wide world has gone crazy, so baby why don't we just dance?"  "When we dance you have a way with me, stay with me, sway with me. " "Just dance."  There are probably a million other excellent examples of songs that talk about dancing. Whenever I hear such a song, a song about letting loose or holding someone close or forgetting about the world and just moving with the music, I am always drawn to that song. Why? Well, because I have been so blessed as to have such excellent experiences, and have them as often as I possibly can.  While clearly I am not opposed to sit for hours and tap away at a keyboard, or while the way a day reading, I will never ever ever refuse a dance when I can manage it. When I am faced with the dilemma to dance or not to dance, my answer will always and forever be to dance.  Sometimes I even think it's coole