My brothers....

My brothers are are 3 and 6 years younger than I am. I came from a single-parent household. My mother is terrific! Three kids, four individuals, one house, one income, a whole lot of food consumption. She is fantastic. However, due to this single-parent household, I, being the oldest, had a great deal of responsibility. Yes, it was hard. Yes, I missed out on a lot. I lost a great deal of social interaction during the years that I should have and now I find it difficult to talk to people. I do not blame my mother for that, though. Really, I don't.

By giving up a great, GREAT deal of my social life, I helped raise my brothers. I cooked, I cleaned, I got them up and ready for school. (This may tie into why I don't want children.) Despite everything, I enjoyed it. I learned how to be independent, how to cook, how to take care of myself and others.

Back to my point, the boys are nothing like me, okay, maybe that's a lie. My younger brother is like me a great deal, much more so than my youngest brother. We also get along great. He makes me laugh, I make him laugh. We insult each other, but it's all in good fun. It's playful banter. Anyway, my brothers and I are similar in many ways, just as we are similar to my mom. All in all, I have noticed that I rub off on my brothers and they rub off on me. And we have a blast and sometimes drive my mother insane or make her laugh and call us "goofballs." It's all loads of fun.