Brother
Sibling relationships are special. They’re a level of hard, wonderful, difficult, and awesome, unlike any other bond between two people. A connection to another human who knows how to push your buttons better than anyone in the world. They’re the only other person who has experienced the upbringing style of your parents in tandem with you and who may have a similar idealogy built upon 18 years of parentage from the same people. They can read you better than most because their formative years were shaped by those who also shaped yours.
Brothers are the built-in best friend who will pull your hair, roast you harder than a severely burnt stuck pig, endlessly put you in your place, knock you down several pegs (or remove them completely and hide them under the couch). Little brothers specifically will berate you for overpaying for a Valvoline instant oil change, all while making up for it by cheering you on from the sidelines of life and sticking up for you when the guy you were crushing on in highschool treated you less than wonderful.
Over the next six months, I have the unique opportunity to dive in and fully get to know the adult version of my younger brother by taking on a full thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail together. I get to hang out with the man version of the 2-year-old boy whose fingers 4-year-old me repeatedly slammed in my bedroom door (to the point of an ER visit) because I was intent on him not entering my room. The full-grown model of the kid who used to wheel around trampoline rims as fast as his little legs could carry him to show just how speedy he was. The baby turned gentleman who used to duck walk around the edges of kiddy pools which ended when he tripped and split open his eyelid on the pool edge which led to yet another bonding ER experience.
With this trip, I’m awaiting the fall into storytelling of our younger days and musings of family dynamics, upbringing, scar comparisons, and beyond. I’m looking forward to diving into what experiences growing up shaped him into the human he is today and fully learning how he looks at the world.
I’m stoked to see him as he is now. I realized the other day that he and I haven’t lived in the same city since becoming adults. I’m looking forward to trading experiences of the working world, love, life, and the pursuit of Annie’s mac n’ cheese.
The motorhead, the man, the legend. I’m excited to get to know him. Fully, totally, and wonderfully all while taking on the adventure of a lifetime together.
