Tell us about your siblings.

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This is mainly a ruse to brag about mine. I am very proud of them, although I must admit the bane of my youth was a self-created shadow I chose to hunker in.

This is an article about my brother:
My Brother is a Good Doctor

So, do you like your siblings? I like mine. (Now that I've made this vanity-Googlable by mine, I have no choice but to say nice things about them.) Are you mostly similar to or different than your siblings?

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:47 (eighteen years ago)

Actually, would this thread come up if my brother googled his name?

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:50 (eighteen years ago)

My brother made the paper post a correction because he wasn't actually adopted. There are other factual errors that don't really matter. My mother wasn't really a single mom - but for all intents and purposes she was.

Somewhere on youtube there's an interview with my older sister. She is a high-power advertising executive who also tries to put the boner in pro bono. She did the "Evolve!" anti-fur campaign that some of you in NYC might have seen.

I have four siblings, three who are officially halves and one full. My older brother and I (the one featured in the story) have the same mom and different dads (I'm white). My younger brother and sister have the same dad and different moms. My sister and I both have the same parents. I grew up with my older sibs, as the youngest. My younger sibs I saw in the summer when we visited dad. They are a bigger part of my life now, but I still feel not exactly like a sibling to them and almost more like an older auntie or something. But they are the ones who are the most involved with my kids as aunt and uncle.

I feel like I am completely different than all of them.

My older "full" sister and I used to fight so bitterly that it would wrench my stomach every time we were going to be together, but somehow we worked out our fundamental problem and now I consider her one of the only few people who understands me and am truly overjoyed to see her when I do. My family is scattered to the corners of the country, so it is an event when we get together.

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

two words: gay cowboy.

― kenan, Friday, 2 March 2007 04:03 (eighteen years ago)

just to clarify: that's not a joke.

― kenan, Friday, 2 March 2007 04:03 (eighteen years ago)

he went to a Reba McEntire concert tonight.

― kenan, Friday, 2 March 2007 04:11 (eighteen years ago)

My brother and I generally can't be in the same room for long without arguing, though it's better now than when we were kids. I don't so much dislike him as get frustrated being around him. Too many bad, irrational decisions that require assistance and bailing out while pretending he's more responsible than I am.

Despite making about six times more than I do, he's financially incompetent, can't make his car payment on time, relies on my mother to get an Ikea credit account because his credit sucks (despite an excellent income), etc..
He overpaid for a faux-Craftsman bungalow, proceeded to 'fix' things that didn't need work (new electronic light switches! new front door!) rather than the floor, insulation, windows, etc.
He pretty much does fuck all for our living grandparents, so all that responsibility (things that can't or won't get handled by the 'rents) falls to me. Of course he proceeds to offer tons of advice on what my Alzheimer's-patient grandma and financially-strapped grandfather SHOULD be doing and that's when I have to resist the urge to punch him.

― milo z, Friday, 2 March 2007 04:56 (eighteen years ago)

Do you get along with him? Gay cowboy sounds intriguing.

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 04:57 (eighteen years ago)

Whoa, dealing with ailing parents/grandparents - that's a whole realm that I don't relish dealing with with my sibs. Tonight my younger bro was here. Oy, speaking of bad financial choices...

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:01 (eighteen years ago)

i love my brother (he's just a half-brother, though). he's possibly the sanest person in my family.

― get bent, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:07 (eighteen years ago)

and he's lived on psych wards, so that's saying something.

― get bent, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:09 (eighteen years ago)

What crazy stuff do members of your family do?

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:14 (eighteen years ago)

hoo boy

― get bent, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:17 (eighteen years ago)

plz spill

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:19 (eighteen years ago)

no, this is a thread about siblings.

― get bent, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:20 (eighteen years ago)

is he your only sibling?

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:23 (eighteen years ago)

yes.

― get bent, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:25 (eighteen years ago)

I have one sister - three years younger than me - who I love to bits. I think the greatest thing about her is the same thing that used to bug me when we were younger: she's good at all the things I'm not. She is a fabulous artist and has filled my house with her paintings, and she knits to die for. She is passionate, funny and kind and can cheer me up like nobody else. She is already the best aunt Alice could ever wish for, adoring her even more than her two pet rats which is saying something. I live in the next street to her and am gutted to be moving away in a couple of weeks' time :(

― Archel, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:33 (eighteen years ago)

Are you moving far away?

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:39 (eighteen years ago)

Not really, just out to the sticks about 15 miles away.

― Archel, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:44 (eighteen years ago)

Oh, that's nothing. How long does it take to drive it? My brother and mother live 3,000 miles away, my father and sister 3 hours away, my dysfunctional brother about 2 miles away.

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:50 (eighteen years ago)

if you and your sibling were both offered a million quid to have consensual, protected sex with each other, and he/she has already agreed, would you do it?

― gershy, Friday, 2 March 2007 05:59 (eighteen years ago)

How many dollars is a quid worth? No matter what, no. Sometimes when my little brother and I argue, it occurs to me that I am very much like my mother, he very much like my father. Still, no sex.

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 06:35 (eighteen years ago)

night night

― Maria :D, Friday, 2 March 2007 06:48 (eighteen years ago)

I have 2 younger brothers and although we're not as close as we could be, thats mainly cause all my fambily live interstate from me. Grant's in ... I dunno, some kind of electrical/IT cabling shit but hes a big manager dude now and makes bucketloads of money. He has 2 adorable kids who I dote on.

Steve works in emergency services stuff: he's been into fire brigade/fire fighting stuff since he was a little kid playing with his matchbox trucks, and its cool he made that his career.

I was booksmarter than both of them and the "one who would go far" - and yet there they both are making mad dime and owning homes and I cant even afford my rent sometimes. Feh. Choices and all that I guess.

― Trayce, Friday, 2 March 2007 07:11 (eighteen years ago)

But you know, I love em both anyway, even though I'm totally different to them. I still think of them as my little brothers even though they're taller, fatter and balder than I'll ever be.

― Trayce, Friday, 2 March 2007 07:12 (eighteen years ago)

Brother # 1.) very smart, trivia king, slightly depressed. He would rule Jeop@rdy by a long mile.
He lives in Hoover, AL. And is not coping with the economics of AL. very well. I have invited him to ILx because he spends a lot of time on the internet and is smarter and funnier than me.. He might be lurking on ILM - who knows.

Brother #2.) very smart, concert pianist,but currently playing only as an accompianest to the BSO quintets and such. Getting his divinity degree from Yale this year. He is also much smarter and funnier than me. He's also (openly) gay, which has led to some family debates. And some Anglican debates.

Brother #3.) MBA from Yale, three kids, awesome wife. I call him "the rich brother". He's an executive with a large insurance company. He cooks really great dinners, and serves amazing wine to the whole family. He is the father to three children who are going to rule the planet: Gus, Sophie and Alice. He is probably the most well rounded of the sibs - but kids tend to make you well rounded, IMHO. He is NOT smarter, but is often funnier than me.

I am the black sheep, of course.

I think Maria:D has met all of my brothers!

― aimurchie, Friday, 2 March 2007 07:54 (eighteen years ago)

siblings: n/a

― StanM, Friday, 2 March 2007 07:57 (eighteen years ago)

I have three brothers and no sisters.

Brother one (older than me): moved to Glasgow a few years ago. I miss him more than anybody knows. But he is very happy there and his wife is great and all their friends are great, which at least makes it okay. He works in IT and is great.

Brother two (younger than me): lives in London, left Dublin at 17 to go to University in Glasgow but then dropped out to run his own comedy club in Glasgow. Is now a successful comedian and makes mad coin, as the kids say. My relationship with him has improved the most over the years, as he gets less wild and more settled, like his boring older sister.

Brother three (younger than me): moved to London three years ago, does a bit of this and a bit of that in the comedy biz. The ladies love him. He is a little bit crazy.

We are all very alike.

Maria's brother and sister sound like the kind of incredibly committed and intelligent Americans who always used to scare the beejesus out of me with their smarts, and yet also make me feel sad because more people in America should be like them.

We are getting the mods to de-index this thread, right?

― accentmonkey, Friday, 2 March 2007 08:08 (eighteen years ago)

lol @ Bidenesque comment
"yes, we try to be articulate and bright and clean for you Yuropeens"

― gershy, Friday, 2 March 2007 08:15 (eighteen years ago)

Two older brothers:

Oldest brother went to the Air Force Academy and was killed in a hit-and-run in 1988.

Older brother went to Georgetown Law School and is currently winning music awards in the DC area as an MC and periodically showing up on HBO's Def Poetry.

― HI DERE, Friday, 2 March 2007 14:35 (eighteen years ago)

My brother lives in Leeds and makes dubstep and chilled-out drum n bass. It's good.

― chap, Friday, 2 March 2007 15:16 (eighteen years ago)

Two younger siblings:

Sister - 21 months younger than me, SAHM of four. Married someone I never would have predicted, considering that she once came home from college and entertained me by her tale of having ten dates with ten different men in as many days. Lives in a huge house and makes some very odd decorating choices.

Brother - 21 months younger than sister. Runs one of family's liquor stores. Is favorite uncle of all his nephews and nieces. Could use a girlfriend (in my opinion, ahem). He's hilarious. He likes to go hunting.

― Sara R-C, Friday, 2 March 2007 15:30 (eighteen years ago)

One half-sister, 13 years older. We're not really really close, but we pretend we are when we see each other at holidays.

One younger brother, who's a mess. Felony conviction related to drug addiction back in the 90s, did a couple of years for that. Now he's back in jail awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to manufacture/distribute, plus the big no-no, possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He's been heading down this path since he was 13. I've kept my distance from him all my life -- I definitely feel guilty about that, but there it is anyway.

― Rock Hardy, Friday, 2 March 2007 15:55 (eighteen years ago)

i have two sisters, they are radsters

younger sis, kelly, age 24, is a circulation clerk/shelver at the denver library, she really likes ELO, young adult novels, and likes to talk a lot, and is way friendlier than me, and we live together and she's also much tidier than me.

older sis, leslee, age 31, has a doctorate, is an english instructor at the university of nebraska, she is a big anglophile, likes the mighty boosh, harry potter, gay people, and has neon pink glasses.

<3

― homosexual II, Friday, 2 March 2007 16:13 (eighteen years ago)

"My brother and I generally can't be in the same room for long without arguing, though it's better now than when we were kids. I don't so much dislike him as get frustrated being around him. Too many bad, irrational decisions that require assistance and bailing out while pretending he's more responsible than I am"

i thought i typed this some night and didn't remember till i read milo's name under it, but to be honest the complaints you have against your brother don't really sound that bad when i think of the older brother i've been lumbered with....i had better not comment on him.

two younger brothers..

eighteen months younger, taller than rest of us and all own hair at 24 (an achievement for our family) still works in tesco stacking shelves but has brains to go further if he wants to- first baby of any of us on the way in the next few months with his ex-gf should provide some motivation for this. pretty average guy in everything except for the fact that everyone who meets him for anything over five minutes loves him for the rest of their lives. he has no hard edges and is very very nice always.

baby of the family is confident, arty and finishing arts and music degree in college. his main pastimes are his band (indie rock covers and some original material) who are popular enough around their college to make their college fees back with gigs, and his girlfriend. he's very smart, very lazy and has a wonderful sense of the absurd about him. he's a bit of a self-created monster for me, being cleverer, funnier and better with the ladies than i am, while copying everything i do and making a better job of it too. he's still a ginger though.

― darraghmac, Friday, 2 March 2007 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

My brother is four years younger than me. He has the biggest heart in the world and suffered a lot when we were kids. He went through a rough spot in his teens (jail, dropout, gangs, drugs, etc.) and was lost to me. I thought for sure he'd be in prison or dead by 21.

But then he met up with his high school sweetheart again and they married and now have four lovely children age 7 and younger. He is an absolutely fantastic father despite growing up without one. He's a stay at home dad, saving on childcare while his college educated wife brings home the bacon.

he makes music in his home studio, hip-hop, and has had mild underground success (did a tour of germany a couple of years ago including a performance on their MTV and at the German playboy mansion). I think he could do a lot with his music but can't really devote his attention to it full time due to his daddy-ing duties.

Recently he's started a custom shoe business and it's really taking off.(www.myspace.com/soleglowcustoms) I'm trying to give him a hand with it, mainly by building a real website.

We are total buddies and love to kick it together. On the Beastie Boy last tour we took a breakneck road trip together from Dallas to Detroit to see them. It was a blast. He's absolutely my favorite person, and the most important relative in my life. I love him dearly.

― Ms Misery, Friday, 2 March 2007 16:56 (eighteen years ago)

I have eight half-siblings, all quite a bit older than me, two deceased. A couple I never see. One who's not even related by blood because she's the product of my father's first wife's infidelity while he was in the Navy during WWII. But he raised her, and no one knows who who her real father was. Well, her mom knew, and maybe my father, but they took it to their graves.
I have one half sister (my father's side)who lives on the island, and works with Skot!!!!
We don't see each other a lot—complicated dynamic, but the other day we ran into each other at the beach with our respective dogs and had a nice walk.
The half-sister that I'm closest to lives in CT and is an amazingly dedicated human-services worker. She moved fucking mountains to accommodate Katrina refugees in CT.
I just talked to my maternal-side half brother last night! First time in a long time.

― Beth Parker, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:19 (eighteen years ago)

I could talk shit about some of them, but they could talk shit about me, too.

― Beth Parker, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:21 (eighteen years ago)

I didn't really grow up with my siblings (sister 7 years older, brother 6 years older) - my parents divorced when I was 4, and they ended up not getting along with my physically/mentally abusive stepfather, so both ran away, then ended up living with my dad - she ran away from there and ended up in foster care, then my mum/stepdad moved us to Australia, so I didn't see either of them again for a few years. Having said that:

My sister is amazing. Lives outside of Sydney, is a single, stay at home mum to 4 kids (ages 9 months - 11 years), used to be a nurse before she had the first one, and is one of my closest friends and confidantes. Sometimes the only way I am able to deal with my mother at all - Cyndi gets me, always has. Warm, witty, affectionate, can be a bitch on wheels if you provoke her, but would do anything for you. Even though I haven't seen her in ten years, she is a stellar sister, and I love her.

My brother is funny, charming, but also kind of a liar when it suits him. He lives not far from my sister outside of Sydney, is an excellent mechanic (it's what he loves to do), smokes a ton of pot, always seems to have friends who want to take advantage of him, and I really wish he'd meet a lovely girl and get married, but what are you gonna do? A good cook, a master story teller, he's a fun guy to have around, and though we used to fight like cats and dogs, there is no one I'd rather have in my corner. He is a great brother, and I love him.

I have an even older half sister - my mom had her when she was 17 and put her up for adoption and none of us met her until we were able to track her down in 1990. She's a lovely girl, although an alcoholic, and when she was around, I was closer to her than the other two. She had a fight with my mum several years back, though, and no one has heard from her since. I have no idea where she is, and have no real way to track her down. I miss her.

― luna, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:22 (eighteen years ago)

I only have one sibling, she is an artist and lives in Glasgow. she is awesome and I am proud to be related to her.

― Pashmina, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:22 (eighteen years ago)

I like her sleeping colobus monkey.

― accentmonkey, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:25 (eighteen years ago)

I have three older brothers. One makes movies and currently has a short doing the rounds at various festivals. One is a DJ whose records are selling decently, and one works in a mental hospital but is also writing scripts for a TV show. I am a maths teacher (go me!)

― Slumpman, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:27 (eighteen years ago)

Pashmina, your sister's prints are beautiful! The Lyrebird!

― Beth Parker, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:37 (eighteen years ago)

All half-siblings, my tow brothers by different fathers and my half-sister by a different mother.

My older brother is smart, slightly garrulous but hilarious and we've grwon quite close. He's also an excellent chef and has an amazing wine cellar.

My younger brother and I couldn't be more different but since my earliest memories, he's one of the people in my life that I knew I would always love.

My sister is a hoot. She's kind, caring, a touch on the princess side at times, but mostly in a good way and we've gone through a lot together. She's one of the first people I call when I need a sympathetic ear.

― Michael White, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:47 (eighteen years ago)

i love my bros. they are 2 and 4 yrs younger than me and our interests are different but convergent at the same time.
i miss them - why do they have to live so far away?

― rrrobyn, Friday, 2 March 2007 17:54 (eighteen years ago)

I have 2 half siblings and 2 stepsisters. My half brother is 14 years younger, my half sister is 17 years younger. They are an absolute blast, and a constant reminder for me to make good choices in life because they look up to me. Both of them are teenagers now. It's a bit surreal to have deep conversations (or IM) with them since it doesn't seem that long ago that they were running around the house like little animals. My brother was thinking about taking a year off before starting college, but then uttered this immortal phrase: "The idea of working full time just isn't inspiring for me." He's been getting gigs as a comedian for a couple of years.
I wish they lived closer, but not at the cost of having the rest of the family nearby!

My stepsisters are both older and married with 4 kids each; our lives are so different we don't stay in touch as well. One has 3 autistic kids and has had to fight her local school system to get them included in regular classes, etc. They are both very tough ladies who are not afraid to stand up for themselves. They work as realtors together, so that they can coordinate business with child care.

― patita, Friday, 2 March 2007 18:58 (eighteen years ago)

Youngest half-brother - product of my psychologist father's infidelity with one of his patients. Nice enough kid as far as I can tell, but has gotten the shit end of the stick in about every way possible since birth. He joined the Army because he couldn't afford to finish his associates in Criminal Justice, has been in Iraq, recently got married, and his wife is expecting a baby. I haven't seen him since about 1998 when I took him to a Wu-Tang concert in Camden, NJ.

Next-youngest step-brother - my ex-stepmother's son from her first marriage. Got all the things that the half-brother didn't, such as emotional and financial support and paternal affection. He joined the Navy after earning his bachelor's (paid for by my father) and is now a Top Gun style fighter pilot for real. He has a cute dog and might have a serious girlfriend. I saw him last in 1997 when he randomly stopped in at the record store where I was working, but since my dad and stepmom were just divorced, I'm assuming I'll never see him again.

Older half-sister - product of my father's first marriage in rural WV, which he ended by leaving town and never going back. I knew she existed and what her name was, but nothing more. She grew up clueless as to who her real father was until she was in her 30s and my dingbat paternal grandmother called her to introduce herself. This resulted in day-time talk show-level dramatic reunions culminating in 1998 with a dinner at my half-brother's mom's trailer involving my half-brother's totally fucked up family (minus my father - his absence was a condition of my presence), the sister, her husband, and her two kids. Her husband called her fat and stupid multiple times during dinner and her youngest daughter constantly humped the arm of the couch like a dog. She tried to make a go of having a relationship with my dad but the last I heard, they don't talk anymore. I haven't seen her since that dinner.

There are rumors of three more half siblings sired before, during, and after my father's marriage to his first wife but all I know about them is what I've heard from my mother.

I generally just tell people that I'm an only child.

― Jenny, Friday, 2 March 2007 20:20 (eighteen years ago)

Wow, Jenny! That sounds like my ex's family!
When my ex moved to Boston he called his father to check in and his father said "Oh! You're in Boston—you know, you had a brother in Boston, but he just died." First my ex ever knew of this brother. He has continued on in his dad's fine tradition of multiple concurrent families, furtiveness, lying lying and more lying. But that's for another thread.

― Beth Parker, Friday, 2 March 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

Beth, if your ex had any connections to West Virginia I would suspect we were related. Too bad such behavior isn't so rare as to be confined to one unfortunately twisted branch of our universal family tree.

― Jenny, Friday, 2 March 2007 20:34 (eighteen years ago)

I never had siblings but now I'm married I have three sisters, does that count? They're all bonkers because they're mostly the same DNA as my wife. You can tell she's bonkers. She married me. I'm pretty stoked about the idea of not being mr. only child boo hoo anymore but as they all live in AZ there's not much interaction.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 2 March 2007 20:36 (eighteen years ago)

One sister, who rocks beyond description. Great job at Whole Foods, cool boyfriend, wonderful new apartment in SF and lives life to the full. It'll be great seeing her again tomorrow!

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 2 March 2007 20:41 (eighteen years ago)

3 yrs younger, Brother: About to finish film school in Ventura, total bro: builds bikes, drinks PBR, makes movies, grows a blonde lumberjack beard, and never pretends at anything. Ladies, I believe he's single these days, so speak up.

6 yrs younger, Sister: PREGNANT, due in Oct! Sweet, homey, fresh and pretty, lives on coffee and cigarettes as far as I can tell (NOT ANYMORE), plans to run a ski resort someday and have hippie children with her awesome husband. The bad girl of the family, and the middlest of the middle children (possib related).

8 yrs younger, Brother: Aspiring architect, still quite young at heart and a lot of room to grow, but I have faith in him. Probably the only one who will ever resemble me in prefering urban environs. Also the tallest & most slender of us all, the little bastard.

― Laurel, Friday, 2 March 2007 21:01 (eighteen years ago)

I get on very well with my sister, though admittedly I only see her about once every other year and don't really talk to her at all outside of those meetings. It is nice to see her though.

We've had a bit of a see-saw relationship competition/success wise.

When I was young I was the mischevious rabble rouser to her perfect student. I was the bad boy proper for about two years, then she went into high school and discovered what it was like to be cool and well-liked, so inevitably, parties, drink, guys, gatherings in the woods at night lit by a cirle of pick up trucks, etc... took over and i was the good one again. She went to university but crashed and burned in two years. then she went to london to train as a hairdresser. My grades were up and I was cruising to be the successful one. Things turned around, though. She got moved back to the States, got married, now has a kid, and earns more money than I ever will, whilst I'm wallowing in mediocre academia, doomed to fail in two months.

― Gukbe, Friday, 2 March 2007 21:06 (eighteen years ago)

She is about 20 months younger, a new mother, and ass't dean of a medical school. So all the overachieving in the family is taken.

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 2 March 2007 21:08 (eighteen years ago)

All we have in common, my younger 2 bros & my youger 2 sis's, is we all love the Nintendo DS & other Nintendo goodness. That's pretty much all we talk abt at family gatherings. That and Seinfeld. Stops us from going at each others' throats.

― Abbott, Friday, 2 March 2007 21:10 (eighteen years ago)

two younger sisters: they are the best and cutest.

― horseshoe, Friday, 2 March 2007 21:15 (eighteen years ago)

I think Maria:D has met all of my brothers!

I'm not sure I've met the rich brother, actually, although I feel like I have from hearing about him. You certainly have met all my sibs. At least I hope so. Sometimes my dad likes to joke that we might have more siblings we don't know about. I hate it when he jokes about his conquests.

I worry sometimes about my relationship with my older brother. We don't see each other very often (he just met our almost-2-year-old for the first time last xmas) and sometimes I'm not sure where to start. He's such a hero and demands so much of himself, that I wonder if he judges me, who isn't saving dying children on a daily basis. As time passes, we seem to be growing farther apart, whereas I feel steadily closer to my other siblings as time goes on.

― Maria :D, Saturday, 3 March 2007 00:28 (eighteen years ago)

I was cruising to be the successful one.
As a mother, I wonder how to avoid that trap - that one kid is good, the other bad. As a kid, if one of my sibs did really well at something, I felt like that thing (whether it was sports or the debate team or whatever) was taken. Why couldn't we all have done the same things and enjoyed them without that stupid self-defeating competitive thing. I always figured my sibs would be "successful" and never really had the ambition to be. I wonder if I would be affluent now if they weren't so successful.

― Maria :D, Saturday, 3 March 2007 00:34 (eighteen years ago)

You don't have to be. THEY WILL SUPPORT YOU!!!!!

― Beth Parker, Saturday, 3 March 2007 00:37 (eighteen years ago)

i have a brother:

http://myspace-489.vo.llnwd.net/00045/98/45/45325489_l.jpg

and a sister. she's dead.

― scott seward, Saturday, 3 March 2007 05:00 (eighteen years ago)

oh wait, that's not her though. that's some other woman.

― scott seward, Saturday, 3 March 2007 05:01 (eighteen years ago)

just in case that was confusing. that is my brother though. his name is daniel saxton seward. daniel after my grandfather and saxton after my father and my other grandfather.

― scott seward, Saturday, 3 March 2007 05:04 (eighteen years ago)

I have an older sister and brother who are 12 and 9 years older than me, respectively. My sister runs her own corporate consultancy company and she and about four other dudes basically do everything from software development and website design to event management. She's married to a lovely, funny guy who's stuck in a crappy accounting job and they have an adorable yet completely terrifying 1-year-old boy. She also loves children's books and is a terrific cook.

My older brother was on his way to becoming a fairly good journalist after dropping out of business school, but my dad made him go back and finish his degree, which he didn't or couldn't, and now he's unemployed, depressed, with a drug habit that we've tried unsuccessfully many times to help him kick. :( I love him to bits though because he's funny and smart and was an enormous influence on me growing up. I worry about him all the time now because I'm pretty much the only one in the family he talks to and I'm sorry that I'm a few thousand miles away and can't keep an eye on him. :(

― Roz, Saturday, 3 March 2007 05:50 (eighteen years ago)

i just realized that makes my brother sound like a complete sadsack which he's not at all. Even on bad days, he's the most charming person you've ever met and seems to have friends around every corner. Got that quality that makes every woman of a certain age want to take care of him. He also knows everything about cars and the Smashing Pumpkins and can probably beat Justin Timberlake in a dance-off.

― Roz, Saturday, 3 March 2007 06:15 (eighteen years ago)

When my brother was a little boy, he had many obsessions. These included vacuum cleaners, street signs, keys, and many other things I can't remember at the moment. Before I was born, when my parents went over to other people's houses, my brother would ask the people if he could see their vacuum cleaner. He took tinkertoys and made signposts out of them so he could tape street signs he'd made with pen and paper to them (so that he could e.g. make a "Hall Wy." sign for our hallway). He always put copyright dates on the books he wrote.

As he grew older, he became a lot more reserved. He was really into computer programming for a while, up through middle school I think. He programmed lots of stuff in BASIC and I'd always try to rip off his ideas and program stuff myself, though I never got very far because all I knew how to do was PRINT and draw lines (I was like 6). He got very irritated by this. As we both got older we got pretty argumentative as kids are wont to do. He continued to be very weird, introverted, and unsocial. In high school he had a huge obsession with taping all the syndicated reruns of Laverne & Shirley and other weird shows he liked. He holed himself in his room, never told my parents about what was happening at school, and made gigantic stacks of VHS tapes. He listened to Madonna and showtunes really loudly. He came out as gay in 11th grade (I did not find this out until a couple of years ago - though I had suspected for the longest time that he was gay, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS). After that he became much more open and seemed a lot happier in general - I dunno when he made all his friends, but all of a sudden he started hanging out with them a lot. But he and I still didn't get along very well because I was an awkward, moody, fat middle-schooler who was going through the same shit he went through in middle school. Also, he spent too much time on the computer when I wanted to get on.

He's a lot smarter than me - he got a 1590 on his SAT and was really mad that he didn't get a 1600. (I got a 1520). But he had (and still has) no idea what he wanted to do with his career. He went to college and never graduated, though he's REALLY close - he just doesn't want to go back. Nowadays he's a really cool guy, though a little eccentric. Nowhere near as eccentric as he used to be though.

― Curt1s Stephens, Saturday, 3 March 2007 06:40 (eighteen years ago)

Scott, I am very sorry your sister died. It must be very difficult losing a sibling. But I don't know as I never had any siblings much to my parents' sadness. They wanted (a lot) more children but it wasn't to be. The OBGYN and other experts said it was just impossible. They were extremely lucky to have me. (How funny, no?) For years they tried to have more children. So I think I saw that sadness and definitley shared it even though, in hindsight, I don't think I was sad to be an only child. I did love (and still do) children and would have been overjoyed with a younger sister/brother. So it really pissed me off when people would say I was spoiled and that it "explained a lot that I was an only child." What the fuck does that mean? (Rethorical, no need to tell me.)

― nathalie, Saturday, 3 March 2007 09:10 (eighteen years ago)

one brother. he's an engineer & businessman, funny & outgoing, like everyone in our family opinionated not to say argumentative, two beautiful daughters the eldest is about to turn 21! he's single again, girls.

one sister. she's a pediatrician with two cool teenage kids of her own, runs in Boston marathon, strong-minded and tough as nails underneath her sweet exterior and nurturing bedside manner.

we get along lately. since our parents died in the 90s we've made an effort to stay close even though we are scattered acorss the midwest and eastern seaboard, get together with our kids once or twice a year.

― m coleman, Saturday, 3 March 2007 13:02 (eighteen years ago)

isn't that chan with your brother, scott?

― Maria :D, Saturday, 3 March 2007 13:15 (eighteen years ago)

Most of you guys have such overachieving siblings! I guess that's to be expected as you all tend to overachieve as well. Not always careerwise, sometimes in other fields, but still... It's maybe for the best that I didnt have any siblings as it would highlight my lack of achievements a little more. hah!

Chan Marshall? (Shit, I never know how to spell her name properly.) And double shit for not having recognized her, if it is her, although it doesn't look like her. I should be able to tell, cause I interviewed her and she even visited our shop and played with Basiel (RIP) saying she also had a basset as a kid. Or were it the neighbours who had a basset? Crap memory...

― nathalie, Saturday, 3 March 2007 13:36 (eighteen years ago)

Chan can look so different all the time.
http://accel11.mettre-put-idata.over-blog.com/0/32/99/00/chan-marshall-closeup.jpg

― Maria :D, Saturday, 3 March 2007 15:11 (eighteen years ago)

I love Curtis's brother! I want to see his vacuum cleaner!

― Beth Parker, Saturday, 3 March 2007 15:56 (eighteen years ago)

it's chan, scott's brother, and a hand puppet

― homosexual II, Saturday, 3 March 2007 17:32 (eighteen years ago)

One sister, 18 months younger than me. We were always very very competitive (brought on by parental behavior: person with worst grades had to do the dishes for 6 weeks, stuff like that) and had massive screaming fights occasionally when we were young. We suffered together through hellish times with our parents and step-parents from junior high on. Then I went off to college and she joined the military and we didn't see each other for years and I realized how much I loved and deeply missed her. She and her mad-scientist husband developed a more environmentally friendly freon replacement and have grown a nice big company. I get to see her a few times each year; I wish it were more.

One brother, 8 years younger than me. Had to babysit him all the time, change diapers, etc and thoroughly resented him for that, though he was also amusing to experiment on (here, taste this...) and he did amazing things while sleep-walking and -talking for a few years (marching us around in the middle of the night, putting us in closets or out on the porch, thinking he was Sgt. Preston of the Yukon Mounties). He was 12 when I first married, and the mental image I carried of him for 15 years (during which time I didn't really see much of him) was of that skinny little kid. When we finally reunited in a hotel bar in Phx where he was giving a class, I walked right past him 4 or 5 times. He thought it was great, I was looking for some skinny little kid, not some giant 6' 8" helicopter pilot turned computer geek. He got me connected and set up with email, back in the wayback when 2400 bps was screaming fast. That's still how we keep in touch; he lives far away so we don't see each other much.

One half-sister, 18 years younger than me. Born just as I was leaving high school and going to college, my step-mom was completely overprotective of her so I never had to babysit or anything. We were actually discouraged from holding her when she was a baby. She's eccentric but plays it up too much. Lives in Phx, so far enough away and a town I don't care if I ever visit again, so I don't see her except at funerals, etc.

One half-brother, 20 years younger than me. We never lived in the same house together. Of all my sibs, he seems to be the most like me. Very musical (percussionist primarily) and currently going to school for music production. When we see each other, we get along great and have tons to talk about, but he also lives in Phx, so it's funerals etc when I see him too.

― Jaq, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:07 (eighteen years ago)

ok this song was sent to my sister by some crepe...

― latebloomer, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:12 (eighteen years ago)

[Removed Illegal Link]

― jaymc, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:39 (eighteen years ago)

D Seward looks very kind.

― Laurel, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

I agree.

http://www.lostfrog.net/artists/img/pct_bunnybrains.jpg

― jaymc, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:43 (eighteen years ago)

hasnt d. seward posted on ilx before??

― homosexual II, Saturday, 3 March 2007 18:55 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, he posts as "dan bunnybrains."

― jaymc, Saturday, 3 March 2007 19:00 (eighteen years ago)

You met the rich brother, maria:D, but it was in 1988 and he wasn't rich. He visited the cave!Also, you went to college with him, but you didn't know each other.
You ARE the one friend who has met all three brothers!

More sibling stories, please!

― aimurchie, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:13 (eighteen years ago)

my sister and i are were both born in colombia, naturalized in the US in the '80s, and raised on the east coast of ma/ri. as a kid i was super-fascinated with being colombian, i had flags, posters, books, and took spanish lessons. my sister thought this was dumb, and used to tease me. because we were 'really' american. in 2003 my sister graduated from college with a degree in early childhood education and became abruptly and inexplicably fascinated with colombia. now she lives in medellín, antioquia, colombia. she spends 9 months of each year there – not working, not really doing much besides hanging out – and comes to the US to wait tables for the other 3 months. i don't exactly 'get' her lifestyle, but it seems to make her happy. so i'm relatively happy by extension. she's my favorite person on the planet, and the person i'm closest to, and we talk 2-3 times a week: running up crazy international phone bills.

we had a kind of charmed childhood, and were wholly, wickedly, inseparable until middle school. then she got too cool and pretty for a geeky older bro. two of her boyfriends punched me in the stomach, one punched her in the eye, and one scammed twenty bucks from me and bragged about never giving it back. another was a drug dealer who gave me a bag of terible weed he'd 'laced with some cool shit' to buy my complacency while he rogered my sister in the next room. as charmed as our childhood relationship was, our adolescent one was equally torturous. we didn't fight, but there was an element of violent, inexorable, rending... being cast from a place edenic... of great things crumbling... for five or seven years, and then we were adults and our split was complete. we _had_ grown up, _had_ lost the twinness that'd marked our childhood, but by then we didn't really need it any more. right?

― remy bean, Monday, 5 March 2007 06:39 (eighteen years ago)

everything you need to know about my brother is contained in this email that he sent my parents (an email that is thus far his only communication with them during his first semester in college):

From: miles
Date: January 22, 2007 09:44:37 PM EST
To: mom & dad
Subject: yo

yo i got alot fo shit to do and work, ill do it tommorw aft/night time,
and call you and shit, sorry

he also has been posting poems he found online to my facebook wall. the most recent one:

miles R3@d (Princeton High School) wrote
at 6:23pm on March 4th, 2007
I Wanted You To Know......

I Was Sitting Here In Heaven
And Having A Wonderful Day.
I Started Thinking About You
And All The Things I Didn’t Get A Chance To Say.
I Don’t Want You To Worry About Me
And Please Don’t Shed Any Tears,
Because I Will Wait For You In Heaven,
If It Takes A Hundred Years.
Everything I Had On Earth
I Have In Heaven Too!
My First Day Here
My Body Became Brand New.
It Is Really Pretty Here
And I Love My New Home,
Although Your Heart Is Broken
Because My Body Is Gone.
My Love Will Always Be There
As You Go Along The Way,
Just Take A Peek Inside Your Heart
There Is Where I’ll Stay.
Know That I Loved My Family
And All My Friends Too,
My Thoughts Will Be With Each Of You
Your Whole Life Through.

In Loving Memory Of _________________
Who Went Home To Be With The Lord - ________________
Wall-to-Wall - Write on miles' Wall - Message - Delete

― max, Monday, 5 March 2007 08:31 (eighteen years ago)

The unique set of experiences that my brother and I share (though I suppose not quantifiably any different from that shared by most siblings) gives us what I at least perceive to be a very deep connection, so that by referring to some place or event from childhood we can enter into this kind of co-medidation upon very specific emotions or internal states that would be completely impossible to communicate to anyone else. It's a tremendous relief to me sometimes, to be able to do that.

― Dan I., Monday, 5 March 2007 09:59 (eighteen years ago)

Boy that sounded stuffy. I was writing papers all night. The little shit bastard is 5 inches taller than me too.

― Dan I., Monday, 5 March 2007 10:03 (eighteen years ago)

4 lovely sisters, all living in London :

A (2 yrs older) – as a teenager was responsible for getting me into punk and later on, when she went to art school in Manchester, Factory Records and all manner of post-punk goodness. Very creative, stylish, knowledgeable and kind. I rarely listen to a record, read a book or watch a film or TV prog without wondering what she thinks about it. Has worked as an art teacher, in advertising and at the BBC. Most likely to say : “Here’s another way to think about it”

J (2 yrs younger) – frighteningly bright and outrageously funny, she did most of the rebelling for the 5 of us when we were younger. Can sometimes be intimidating until people get to know her, but is fantastic company. Is a barrister now. Most likely to say : “Do you think I offended him?”

E (4 yrs younger) - really easy-going and friendly. Is the kind of person who everyone instantly likes. She’s a wicked mimic and very, very funny. Always thoughtful, honest and kind. Went to drama school, acted a bit and now teaches Drama and English. Lives on the next street to me! Most likely to say : “Shall we open another bottle?”

M (6 yrs younger) – also went to drama school, acted a bit and now teaches Drama and Music. Knows everything – you want her on your pub quiz team! Very relaxed and friendly outlook conceals a fiercely determined and passionate person within. Also something of a perfectionist. Lives about 5 streets away from me. Most likely to say : “ Come round and we can talk about it”.

― Dr.C, Monday, 5 March 2007 11:13 (eighteen years ago)

I neglected to mention that I did not grow up with my brothers. They went to the St. Thomas Choir School. Aged 10. Boarding school.
It was a great school for them - and the school itself was significant in our family life. They helped my father get into rehab, for instance.(it was not succesful).
I wanted to go to St. Thomas as well, and pointed out to the headmaster that my voice wouldn't change!This was not a compelling argument for becoming a chorister in an all boy choir.

I'm not sure how my brothers felt about being sent to boarding school when they were 10. They matriculated to St. Pauls/Loomis-Chafee,fancy schools, as was expected, so they basically left home as children and only returned for mandated vacations.
Our family was fucked up at that point, so...I guess they felt like they were better off. My parents were running a halfway house for developmentally disabled women, and my father was not sober. And my parents divorced around that time.

Also, my father was a minister. Ordained through UCC and Church of Scotland. And also a WWII veteran for Her Majesty's Navy. He is deceased.

And my brother is going to be ordained, as an openly gay priest. So I can see a bit of everything coming back.
Yay!
It's possible to take narratives and run with them - and create a new family. With all of your siblings and relatives.

― aimurchie, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 06:07 (eighteen years ago)

Two brothers , both younger than I. One is an administrator who works with doctors , he makes a lot of money and works very long hours , he wants to see his family mor but he cannot and it is driving him slowly sad/mad. The other lives in the town where we all grew , he is a manual laborer and stays to him self , very much into outdoors life and hanging around with friends , smart but not cerebral. He is single too ladies !

― Dimension 5ive, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 06:16 (eighteen years ago)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e391/marthasminions/silvathins.jpg

This guy is one of my older brothers. I haven't seen him in ages. He lives in the Catskills.

― Beth Parker, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

Recentish interviews with my sister here and here

Haven't seen my brother in over ten years so I don't really have anything to say about him.

― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:04 (eighteen years ago)

sister 1 (2 1/2 yrs older): married, new-ish mom (my godson is 8 months old), owns a lending company (pretty much in name only to qualify for women/minority owned benefits) that my bro-in law runs. she used to be an underwriter but now runs a used book store which is nice because every month or 6 weeks i'll get a package with a book and a note from her saying she thought i might like this book. the three of them live a pretty comfortable life in a gigantic house in vermont that at one point was an inn. because with three people you really need to live in the set of the second newhart show.

sister 2 (18 months younger): single, fiercely anti-marriage, lives in boston (well, slummerville). is rapidly approaching her destiny of being a crazy cat lady. makes more money than i can imagine and is always broke. travels a lot. is one of the few people i know who, pound for pound, could drink me under the table. when i stayed with her for a night in november we (me, her, her boyfriend) went back to her place after a show for beers only to find she had no beer. but being the good irish catholic she is she had a bottle of jameson. but being the slob that she is the only clean glasses in her apartment were pint glasses. so the three of us killed a bottle of jameson by drinking pints of it from 2:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. i had the worst flight back to chicago ever and she, somehow, went to work that day.

― chicago kevin, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:18 (eighteen years ago)

My brother, who is 19 months younger than me, is a pipe fitter/plumber. He smokes weed every day, dates a mom of one very messed up kid (victim of abuse at the hands of her older half-brother), and knows a lot about a lot but can't get his own shit together (and refuses to take any advice). We used to fight a lot, both physically and verbally, but that seems to have subsided now that we're in our mid-30s. He is a talented painter (though he rarely paints anything anymore), writes very funny jokes, and in spite of being 6'5" moves his seat forward when he drives. I almost crashed his VW Microbus the first time I drove it as I didn't realize that the seat was way up and I couldn't hit the pedals correctly. As I've mentioned on this board before, he has urinated on me several times and made me poop my pants once in an incident so funny I laugh every time I think about it, but I don't hold these things against him anymore. We talk on the phone every couple of weeks, and I dread his calls as it usually means something bad has happened. He hates Elliott Gould but can't explain why, and eats way too many avocados.

― Bryan, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)

i am so jealous of all you people with siblings.

― Gravel Puzzleworth, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:29 (eighteen years ago)

my lone sibling is around here somewhere

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:36 (eighteen years ago)

I have 7 siblings (6 are half-siblings, if you want to be technical).

The oldest is 25 (that is, 15 months older than me).

The youngest is 16 months old.

― elmo argonaut, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:36 (eighteen years ago)

Kevin, I think you're lying. I'm don't understand how there's a woman on this earth who can outdrink you.

― Laurel, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 20:44 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

fuck, he's an adult

― bitch hooligan, pussy ass nobrain dårk (country matters), Friday, 27 February 2009 15:05 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

My sister, in a spot for Whole Foods (where she works) answering the question -- flowers or chocolates for Valentine's?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGmvDjKq9CM#t=00m32s

(If for whatever reason that direct link doesn't work, she starts at about 32 seconds in.)

It's a very honest answer from her.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:36 (fifteen years ago)

Sausage & a beer? I think on the Sandra Lee thread we have something suitable...

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:38 (fifteen years ago)

Don't be gross.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:45 (fifteen years ago)

she thinks it's more romantic

no...

― flopson, Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:48 (fifteen years ago)

xp brats boiled in Guinness actually

― Les centimètres énigmatiques (snoball), Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:49 (fifteen years ago)

my only sibling is a younger half-sister (from my father's second marriage). i only became aware of her around the time i met my father, maybe 10 years ago.

she's a PHd who runs a program at a nyc hospital. she wants nothing whatsoever to do with me. it was only when my father was ill recently that she allowed herself a few brief conversations.

it briefly made me sad. but so be it.

― Daniel, Esq., Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:54 (fifteen years ago)

I have one sibling, a sister, 3 yrs younger, she owns a coffee shop in Bed-Stuy and loves dogs.

― Ayo Scott (rip van wanko), Thursday, 10 February 2011 23:58 (fifteen years ago)

lil bro who is ten years younger (19) kinda worried about him cuz he fucked up his a-levels and is "jus chillin" at the moment.

lil sis, 18 months younger, who works as a supervisor at a call centre.

― http://i56.tinypic.com/xnsu1g.gif (max arrrrrgh), Friday, 11 February 2011 00:01 (fifteen years ago)

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