I did my essay as a tribute to my brother, who died 8 years ago. Anyone who knows me knows that I was very close to him and have been devastated since his passing. It was a joy and an honor to write this for him. My professor liked it and suggested that I submit it to the This I Believe website, I just finished doing that. I cant wait to find out if they accept me or not. I'm soooo excited!!!
I decided to share the essay here, as well. So here is my essay, I hope you enjoy! And please feel free to comment, I would love to hear what you think!!
Boys are
trouble. They are mean and yucky. But when you share the same parents they also
become something special and wonderful.
You develop a bond that will never be understood by anyone who doesn’t
share in it, a love that no one else can comprehend. Sibling relationships are a precious gift of
God, and no matter how much they may annoy you at times, one day their
importance will become very clear.
My
brother, Robb, was five years older than me, and much cooler than I was. He was popular, outgoing and athletic; he
seemed to have it all. But of all the
things that took his attention, he loved me the most. I was just a baby compared to him, painfully
shy and friendless. I thought very low of myself, but he thought the world of
me and I could do no wrong in his eyes.
I didn’t
always make things easy for Robb. I
would brutally pick on him at times. I
would do things just to get him fired up, just to be a little troublemaker. But he took it like it was just his job as my
brother. Through it all, I knew that no
matter what I needed, all I had to do was call on him and he would be there,
and there were many times that I did.
Whether it was to borrow money, or go talk to a boy that had been mean
to me, he stood beside me.
As we
grew older, we just grew closer and closer.
Robb was at my house so much that he basically lived with me for many
years. I would get frustrated at times, but deep down in my heart; I just loved
having him around. We would play video
games and stay up all night long talking. We shared a love for the same kind of
music and had such fun listening to it together. Of course, we always had to
have pizza and chips around, or run to whatever burger joint he might be
craving at the moment. He also loved
being an uncle and spending time with my children. He would always say that they, especially my
oldest daughter, reminded him of me when I was younger.
Robb was
human and made his mistakes. I got mad at him more times than I could
count. But I knew he loved me; I just
never realized how much I loved him until one day when it was too late. One horrible Thursday in August, a day I will
never forget, he died too young, just shy of his thirty-fifth birthday. He’s been gone eight years now, and my life
will never be the same.
Although
I live a very full life, with many precious people in it, there will always be
a hole in my heart. It will never be
whole again, because it was meant for just him. I have many close relationships: my husband,
my parents, my children, and, I adore them all. But they cannot be my
brother. I didn’t realize just how much
he meant to me until he was gone, and now it’s too late. All that I can do is to teach my children to
appreciate their own siblings, to help them see how precious they really are to
each other. They may not see it now, but
they really do love each other more than they themselves are able to
understand. I would give the world to
have five more minutes with Robb. I
would absolutely love to give him a few more hugs and tell him how much I love
him and how much he means to me. Nothing
is quite like that bond shared by siblings. I know from experience, a bond
between siblings is so very precious.
This, I believe.
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