he ain’t heavy

Enjoyed a rather lengthy chat with my little brother tonight. We hardly see each other as we live quite far apart. But whenever we get to talk it makes me feel good. Little brother is a bit misleading, since the boy just turned forty. Nevertheless, for me he will always stay “little” as he is my younger brother albeit only 17 months younger. As long as I can remember I have loved this guy and felt an urge to protect him whenever I thought he was threatened by someone or something or treated unfair. Although we have chosen very different lifestyles – he stayed very religious, in fact he is a leading elder in his church whereas I have become an atheist – we always stayed in touch and interested in each other. We had many discussions about religion as I wanted to create some freedom of thought for the sake of his three sons. But his choice is his choice as his kids are his kids and there’s nothing I can do about it. My nephews have fine brains and will make their own choices, too. I am sure my brother wanted a more stable life and maybe other great things for me as well. And I made my own crap choices. Just goes to show… The important thing remains: our communication line stayed open all these years. As much as we may differ in opinion on many topics there is a deep bond between us. I cannot explain it, it’s just there. Funny thing is: I am also very close with my sister but the two of them are not so keen on each other. For their kids sake they put up with one polite visit a year but that is just as much as they can stomach. One day more and they would surely brake into an outright fight. Always has been like that. They can’t stand the sight of each other, really. Bugs me to no end as I cannot understand this at all.

He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother, Neil Diamond