Every opportunity my family has to be together, we take. Getting together is pretty hard when we are spread across the country; one brother in Philadelphia; one brother in Maine; one brother in Denver. Though the times that we see each other may be a handful during school semesters, we converse like it is everyday. This was a particularly special weekend because we all got to be together for one graduating college the same day as another's birthday.
After reading an opinion piece from the New York Times, "The Gift of Siblings", I thought I could relate pretty well. Not only did the author's family have three older boys and one girl, the youngest, but he also found that siblings are always the one you can turn to, whether it be for advice, a different outlook on a situation or a number of other things. Jeffrey Kluger, author of the book The Sibling Effect says:
Siblings are the only relatives, and perhaps the only people you'll ever know
through the entire arc of your life. Your parents leave you too soon and your
kids and spouse come along late, but your siblings know you when you are
in your most inchoate form.
The arc that Kluger described made me think of Dan McAdams' "Redemptive Arc". Arcs like these ie "sin to salvation, rags to riches, sickness to health" are the exact arcs that siblings will always be there for. They see you at your highs and at your lows. They may be your best friends and your worst enemies. But one thing that I will always know is that I can always count on them.
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