I talk to my brother fairly regularly (though not as often as I'd like), but it's usually "just because", not for any particularly pressing matter. When I spoke to him late last week, though, I asked for the reinforcement: "Can we hang out sometime soon, just the two of us?" Every once in awhile, I just need to hang out with a blood-relative to bond over and lament our mutual difficulties. His answer was, of course, exactly what he's always said: "That's what big brothers are for."
Demonstrating that he really does know how to calm his little sister, he suggested a trip to the Appalachian Brewing Company, a place where we could indulge in conversation, bar food, and beer.
And even more impressive, our brother/sister get-together didn't have any obligatory heavy discussion topics; it was just a matter of hanging out with family and enjoying an afternoon out...with lots, and lots, and lots of disgustingly delicious fried food...nom...
Once we decided that we were going to (almost) entirely avoid any heavy issues, we talked The Walking Dead, work, and what the kiddos have been up to lately. We split poutin and blue cheese-balsamic glazed chips. And yes...yes, we did finish them completely.
Since that didn't clog the arteries enough, we also each had 10 wings, even though I brought more than half of mine home. Sweet & smokey...yum...
Food and family are tremendously cathartic for an aching heart. Don't get me wrong: Jeremy still makes it clear that he's the big brother and he'll laugh at me, be embarrassed by me, or pull rank on me whenever he can. He laughed when I nearly flattened the suicidal pheasant that ran into the road on the way to the bar, and he tried to hide his face on the way home when I used an anonymous family's driveway (like, the entire driveway) to turn around after a missed turn.
Challenges abound every single day, but when you can fall back on bros and brews...well, it's hard to feel too bad, isn't it?
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