This I Believe

I believe in the bonds of siblings. I learned this lesson growing up in my humble but loving home. Times were tough back then and we definitely did not have the money to buy extra (luxury items), such as shaving cream. So, when my father pulled all of us kids into the living room and asked who had squirted all the of the shaving cream out of the can, I was not about to tell him it was me.

As a six-year old, I couldn’t help myself. It was just sitting there – a bright new can of shaving cream v waiting for me to push the little button and watch the foam puff out.

So, in an awkward silence, we all sat, and waited. When no one confessed to the crime in question, he grounded everyone. The guilt was overwhelming and I finally stepped forward.

My punishment: pay for a new can of shaving cream.

As an almost impossible feat for me, I cried. It wasn’t the chores I would have to do to earn the money that brought the tears; I felt alone and embarrassed. Then I heard my older sister come to my side. (I’ll help her; she can’t do it by herself.)

Yes, I believe in this sacred bond. No matter where we are in the world, how annoyed we are with each other, or how long it’s been since we’ve talked v we are family and that surpasses all.

This same sister, now seven months pregnant, called a couple months ago and said, (I need you when the baby comes, will you be here?) Two hours and a thousand dollars later v we (my younger sister and I) had two plane tickets to Georgia.

I believe in these eternal bonds; but I also believe, as with everything else in the world, that it takes work and love to deepen those bonds. Those acts of love do not need to be big and expensive; it only takes a (moment) of true caring to strengthen that bond.

It’s my brother walking our younger sister back and forth to school everyday; my (little brother), who is a foot taller than me, shielding my face from the winter storms with his hand; my youngest sister hoping our oldest brother asks her to dance at a wedding reception v which he does; my older brother offering our little brother advice at 5am; my sister, a senior in high school, letting our youngest sister, a freshman, sit with her and her (cool) upper-class friends every day at lunch; my brother, who is ten years younger than me, holding my hand at the movies when I cried at Finding Nemo v all are expressive examples of our love for each other.

Yes, I believe in siblings and in taking the time necessary to keep that connection alive between us. For when no one else will stand with you, they will v with you on one side and a brand new can of shaving cream on the other.