Brother, Brother C'mon Back

My little brother and I fought unmercilessly when we were kids. And I was horrible to him. I beat him up, I convinced him he was a test tube baby, and would pick at him and pick at him until he snapped. When I went to college, he was going to be a sophomore in high school, and he didn't think I was cool, and I only thought he was annoying.

Somewhere around the time he went to college, we started talking. Sometimes we'd talk several times a week. We talked more, and emailed more, than we had for most of our lives. It was as if we had finally gotten on a common level. Since that time, our conversations have become slightly less frequent, as we only get to talk once or twice a week, but we try to keep to that schedule, and email in between.

This summer, he's been in the DC area as a summer associate between his second and third years of law school. It has made me more happy than I even realized, having him here. Despite the fact that we only got together a handful of times, it was the knowledge that he was here, and that we had the option to make plans, that made me happy. I liked knowing he was in my zip code. We got to do very relaxed things like go to baseball games, be picky about restaurants, and sit around and play cards at night; unlike when he is doing a fly by visit and I have just a few hours to visit with him.

So, tonight, when we took a jaunt into the city for our second meal during DC's Restaurant Week at Charlie Palmer Steak House, I found myself getting a little sad. We had a really great meal, a lovely chat, and he was sweet enough to pick up the tab for his old sis, but I couldn't help thinking in the back of my mind that I wasn't going to see him for a few months, that this was it for us. It makes me sad. I miss him already. I miss just knowing that family is close by.

For the longest time, I wondered if we would ever get along, now I can't imagine my life without our weekly chats. My brother has his own life, and I have mine. In a few years, he will be back here permanently with a job offer in hand and I can't wait, because it is a beautiful thing to find how wonderful family can be.