Apr 042008
 

My brother Corey is ten years younger than me. When he was little, he was very close to me, preferring to hang out with me and my friends rather than kids his own age. Even once I moved out into my own place, I’d invite him to all of my parties and he’d dress up in my boots and skirts and twirl around for all of my friends to either laugh uproariously or gawk in horror.

He came to my twenty-fifth birthday party, which was really just a small gathering around a platter of Jello shots. Unbeknownst to me, Corey was slipping shots up his sleeve and sneaking off to have his own private spiked gelatin feast. He ended up crashing at my place and when my mom picked him up the next morning, she called me and yelled, "Corey threw up in the car on the way home. It must be all that vegetarian shit you feed him!"

Corey and I had the kind of symbiotic relationship that make us choose the same obscure answers during riveting rounds of Scattergories.

But then in high school he became too popular with the girls to bother with his big sister and her stupid life. He has his own friends, his own parties to attend, his own car to drive.

Having Chooch pulled us even further apart. It took Corey a long time to warm up to him. He used to hold him like he was a ticking bomb and he didn’t come to his first birthday party.

A few months ago, Corey started texting me regularly. He attended my last two game nights (and even brought a girl to the last one!) and admitted to developing a taste for the Cure.

Initially, Christina was supposed to go see the Cure with me next month in Philadelphia, but Corey expressed interest. Christina was understanding when I asked her if Corey could go in her place, and Corey was thrilled. I’m going to tell my mom we’re sleeping in the car at a truck stop, maybe scare her into securing us a hotel room.

Corey and I have never road-tripped together. In fact, we haven’t spent more than a few hours together at a time since I moved out ten years ago. I’m really hoping it will be one of those bonding experiences that people make movies about (hopefully no one will die though) and that he won’t be too embarrassed when I act like an asshole, because it’s like Tourette’s: I just can’t help it. I haven’t told him yet about the car-jackings and kidney-thieving I have lined up for that weekend, though.

Then last night, he texted me and asked me to help him decorate for his graduation party and that I can invite some of my friends, too. To me, this means: Even though I still think you’re a crazy assed weirdo, I am not as embarrassed of you as I once was; besides, I really need help draping streamers.

  16 Responses to “sibling stuff”

  1. That’s so neat. I always wished I had a younger brother. The boy next door is 8 years younger than me, and he would always come over and bug me until I agreed to play with him. Now he’s 17 and he’s too busy with girls his own age to think about me. I wish we were cousins or something.

  2. He seems to be coming out of his teenage crappy-time thing slowly, doesn’t he? Give him some time and hopefully your little brother will come back completely. I hope your trip next month lets you guys do some good bonding!

  3. corey is a cool kid—
    probably b/c he’s as strange as you… but still.

    i’m glad you guys are getting closer.

  4. Yeah, they outgrow only for awhile. Then they come back. I’m so happy you are getting your friend back. I am amused at your mom thinking it was your vegetarian food that made him barf!

  5. Oooh, road trip with your brother! That sounds like fun.
    I have to say, I’m kind of jealous of your relationship with your brother. I have one who is only 2 years younger, and we get along well enough, but we argue a lot. Not about major stuff, mostly really little things, which is really immature, but probably because we’re both teenagers.
    Clicked through to you from Gaby’s, by the way, over at Forever-17.

    x
    Just a girl

    • Thank you for stopping by and commenting!

      I have another brother who is 22 and we only see each other on holidays. I wish we were closer, but I kind of don’t think we ever will be. We’re not even close enough to argue. :/

  6. aww :) reminds me of my little brother Michael. I’m 25, he’s 16, and we are friends. He’s the other black sheep in the family besides me, so we bond over that.

    • It’s weird when there’s such a big age gap. I have another brother who is only 5 years younger than me, but we have NOTHING in common and while we get along, we barely know each other anymore. It kind of sucks. :(

  7. Aw man, my bro is similar. Hooray for weirdo sibs.

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