My siblings

Siblings influence each other. 

   Some for the better. Some for the worse.

   For example, I pretty much followed the same path of life as my older brother. We were born and raised in the same place. We enjoyed the same comic books and same music. In junior high and high school, I joined the same school clubs and wore the same haircut. After graduation, I even attended the same university!

   You might think that it is natural to have a younger brother be influenced by his older brother since both are male siblings.

   Here’s the catch.

   We also have a younger sister and she followed the exact same path as we did.

   We certainly walked the same path of life. but our characters were completely different. My brother was serious and cautious, always reading books. I am two years younger than him. I was a show-off and hated to lose. My sister is three years younger than me. She was carefree and whiny. but she was the kindest of our siblings. As a result, the following occurred.

   When I entered university, I lived with my brother in a small, old rented house in Sendai. At the beginning, we got along well. We often ate together, and played video games. But our lifestyles became separate little by little and we talked less and less. After three years of bickering, I started living on my own. My sister, on the other hand, moved into the house I had left and started living with my brother. They are five years apart in age and never quarreled.

   As I adjusted to the comfort and responsibility of living alone, I was finally able to start my own path. However, I gradually began to worry about my younger sister. Even though I consider her to be kind and smart, she often chose the same path we did without much thought. For example, when she entered junior high school, she joined the same field hockey club as us. but she could not keep up and ultimately quit. She instead joined the brass band and had a much better time doing that. In truth, she preferred playing clarinet in the music room to playing hockey on the dusty field. So, when I heard that she had decided to specialize in Oriental history, I had mixed feelings. My brother's specialty was Western history, a topic I was never interested in at all.

   Eventually, my brother completed his master's degree. He got a job, and went to the city of Nara. My sister continued to live in the house by herself. I told her many times that she should move to a newer and more convenient apartment, but she did not. I felt that she was unable to find her own way.

   I soon got a new job at a publishing company in Tokyo and she got a job at a store selling baby products. Later my mother told me that my sister had wanted to be a nursery school teacher. I felt sorry for my sister, but I could do nothing to help her.

   Two years later, my family and friends gathered at a restaurant in Tokyo for my wedding. My sister also attended. I had not seen her in quite a while, and she was wearing a modest dress and seemed a little slender. After the wedding, she said, "I'll send you something to celebrate," and went back to Sendai.

   The next week she sent me a gift. My freshly acquired wife and I opened that long, narrow box. It is an olive umbrella. It was large enough to hold two people. When I unfolded it in our room, for some reason I relieved that she would be okay.

   Now I know the reason. I was worried about my younger sister, because I was jealous of my brother. I wanted to be the kind older brother who helped her. But, that umbrella made me realize that I didn't have to be that person an longer. I already had a new family to protect. And maybe she had been okay for a long time. At that time, my heart was unfolded like the umbrella.

   My sister is now married and raising three daughters in Aomori. The younger two are twins so she is very busy, but she seems very happy.

   As siblings we walked the same path perhaps much longer than other siblings. It delayed our adulthood. But it has given us many memories. Some good, some better.