Family Love

I am currently in the middle of Little Women.  I read the book in high school, but I think I was way too young to understand the importance of the book.  At 23, I am the perfect age to read it.  From the moment I started reading the novel, I cannot stop thinking about it.  It's magical, sad, frustrating, romantic, family focused, and so much more.  Little Women has really made me think about everything I have in my life: both my parents home with me, a brother, money/time for school, a nice home to live in, mine and my family's health, an extensive wardrobe without holes and stains, and as much food as I want to eat.   (Promise to write more about Little Women in a later blog!) 

My brother left for his second year of college last Thursday.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying having the DVR all to myself and not having to share a bathroom with anyone, but I do miss him while he's away.  When we were younger, the two of us would fight like crazy.  My brother always thought he was older than me, and would try to tell me what to do.  I of course would refuse to listen to him, and try to push him around.  It was fun for us to push each other's buttons, but I'm sure my mom did not enjoy it.  As we got older the fighting stopped.  We both respected each other's spaces and each other.  Now our relationship is close to great.  We are able to talk openly about whatever.  We've both realized that the other isn't as innocent as we thought.  Through the years my brother and I have bonded over baseball, my parents' constant discussions about my dad's business, The Office, and of course the love of our lives, our dog Pudge.  

In Little Women the four sisters are best friends, and spend a lot of time together.  They love to perform plays for their mother, they sit together at night sewing for the men at war, and they sing before going to bed.  No matter what kind of day they have, they are always there for each other at the end of it.  When Jo has to complain about Mrs. March she has three pairs of ears listening to her.  When Amy was punished in school, she had all her sisters and her mother comforting her.  When Meg focuses too much on appearances, she has three sisters to help her become grounded.  Each new song Beth learns, she is able to perform it for her sisters.  These four girls are always together, and always relying on each other.  My brother and I listen to each other’s complaints, comfort each other when we are mad and upset, try to keep the other one grounded when we become so consumed with something, and enjoy each other’s hobbies and talents.  The only thing we don’t do like the sisters of Little Women is actually spend much time together.

My brother was home for three full months.  When he first came home, we spent some quality time together.  We watched all season 5 of The Office.  Once we finished season 5, we stopped hanging out.  We both became very busy.  I would leave for work in the morning before my brother woke up, and I would already be asleep by the time he came home at night.  There were times when we went days without seeing each other (by the way our rooms are right next to each other, and we share a bathroom.  Not sure how we kept missing each other).  On days when I had some free time, I hoped my brother would be home to hang out.  He wasn’t.  Finally August 1 came and I realized that my brother would be heading back to school in a few weeks.  Time to make an effort to hang out with my brother.  The first two weeks of August were a failure for my brother and I. 

Eventually my brother and I found some time to hang out.  We watched Entourage together, watched Monsters Inc., had dinner together, and packed my brother up for school.  I always have a great time hanging out with my brother and was bummed when he went back to school.  At least we have iChat and BBM. 

Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy have shown me how important it is to make and spend time with those you love: family and friends.  Life is too short to spend it doing something you’re not enjoying, and with people you don’t even like that much.  The lesson I learned this summer is to make sure I spend time with those most important to me.  I spent a lot of time with most of my best friends, but I do regret not spending a lot of quality time with my parents and brother.  My goal this year is to spend my time equally with all my friends, and to make sure I have time for family.  Let’s see how well this works out for me!!