I fidget and squirm

Waiting with anxious feelings

My stomach turning and bubbling

My heart at new found speeds

He is on his way

I pace back and forth

Thinking of what might happen

Will he be different?

Will he have different hobbies?

Will he be the person I once knew?

I think little of the future

When I focus on the past

Will it be the same as then?

Will I be able to say the same things around him?

My thoughts run away from me

A noise; a commotion

He steps into view

I stare at him with mixed feelings

I sheepishly walk up to him

I feel like running away

I offer a hand

But he does not take it

So I stand there sweating with despair

I begin to think, “He’s lost to me”

Then I’m pulled forward

He brings me to a hug

His eyes fill with tears

Then I hear a whisper so faint

I registered the words, “I was afraid”

But of what?

I ask why

He lets go and says

“Afraid you had forgotten me”

I feel a lump in my throat

He was worried too

I exclaim I would never

An embrace is shared

A heart comforted

Expectation met

Brothers united

What are siblings to you?  Are they the evil blood related monsters that live to torment your every waking moments?  Are they the angelic and kind hearted friend you always wanted? Or something in between? 

I certainly have a love-hate for the majority of my siblings.  But I think it just depends on the situation and events at hand, and there is one event that I have been waiting for, for at least two years.

My second eldest brother left to serve a mission in the United States for two years in 2015.  Now his two years are up and he is coming home in March.  Obviously, having not seen my brother for two years I am anxious to see him face to face in a few more weeks.

My brother is a classic brother.  

He is smart and funny, which is always a good thing for a brother to have.  He and I share a lot of hobbies and interests together, which does make our relationship work a lot smoother and easier, and he always has a way with words, and that is where it gets a little annoying.

All in all, he is everything a brother should be.  He has been a role model, a mentor, an ally and a friend all in one.  But I guess you could say I’m a little nervous and worried.  I’ve heard that people change over time and that is something I find slightly worrisome.  Why?  Because someone like him shouldn’t change at all; he is perfect just the way he is and if he doesn’t know that, then I will make it my job let him know.

I just hope he hasn’t changed too much over the time he has spent away from us.  But change is good, as long as it’s only a little.  

And when the moment comes to meet him again, I will walk up to him, smile, hug him, welcome him home and say to him, in a way that I know he’d understand, “I didn’t forget you.”