I knew something had been wrong with my brother all day. Though, I must confess it might have been that we had seen the 9:20 screening of "The Hobbit" the night before, and he had school the next day. We had dinner with Dad, and then my brother went to meet up with his girlfriend to talk. He look serious, so I asked him if he thought he was going to break up with her. He said no.
My brother has also been applying to colleges. Yet, he hasn't applied to too many. Now, I am not one to encourage laziness, nor to do the work for someone who isn't willing to do it themselves. My brother has his mind set on one school, and I think he might like to have some more options than the one school within his line of sight. Also, I would hate for him to have regrets in life that pinpoint to the one time he was young and naive in high school. So, I took it upon myself to apply him to another university. The application, surprisingly, did not take me long at all.
When my brother got home tonight, it was very late. I asked him what happened, and he told me that he and his girlfriend had broken up. We had a good chat about it, and I hope that he feels better. If anything, I know he feels like he can talk to me about these things, which is good. I'm sad that he and her broke up though, I really liked her. My brother responded to all of it by saying, "Everything happens for a reason." I vehemently disagree with this statement in general, yet I felt like that would be a better conversation for another day, rather than pointing out this flawed logic in his time of sadness.
I showed him what I had been doing all night, and I had him read over the application, adding things, and taking things away. Sadly, the server must have been down, because it would no let us submit it. But, we are getting together tomorrow to figure it out and submit the application!
As odd as this all may sound, it was an eye-opening moment for my brother, and I think what he needed during this time. I think he often feels like no one really cares about him or what he does, but it is certainly not true. I think I've got to show him that when I was there to listen about his breakup and help him with college applications.
I am a bit of an over-achiever myself, and I feel that he sometimes thinks he has to live up to me and what I have done with my life. I need to remember to encourage him to live his own life and to pursue his own passions. I need to remember to pray for him. I need to remember to tell him that I care about him and what happens to him. That I love him.
Alright, alright....that's getting a little too sappy. Siblings. Psh.
