I only have one sibling - a younger sister who recently celebrated something of a milestone birthday. She lives on the continent and in the past we never gave it that much thought because it's not as though she was living in Australia. But then of course the pandemic occurred and the distance felt a lot greater than what it really was, and my parents and I didn't get to see her (or each other for that matter even though we're all still in the same country!) for what seemed like an eternity. It's great that we all recently got to catch up.
My sister and I have always been close and I consider her to be my best friend (hopefully she regards me as the same!)
And what about everyone here? Are you all very close to your siblings? How did you all cope not being able to see each other for such a long time?
I think I'm the only one here who's an only child! I don't think my parents ever planned it to be just me but that's the way it happened. As a child, I always wanted at least one brother or sister. But my parents always made me feel very loved and I never wanted for anything, and I don't just mean in a material sense. They always made sure I was very sociable, doing activities, joining groups and making lots of friends so that I never felt alone and I think that's been a big help as I didn't go through life always pining for a sibling. I know some people have brilliant relationships with their siblings, and then there are those who don't so I know it can go either way. But that said, I'm glad that I have two kids which means that each of my children has a sibling. As for me, well I married a man who has siblings and they're now the closest that I have to siblings myself - and I couldn't ask for better!
I only have one sibling. I have a younger brother so growing up it was just the four us at home. We are a very tight family unit and I have always been close to my brother. I hope that he would say I'm a good older sister. I'm married, and my brother has a son (I'm an aunt!) and despite these major life changes, we're still have a close bond. Plus he gets on very well with my husband who's like the brother he never had, which I'm naturally happy about. To answer your question about not being able to see each other for a long time, well that doesn't happen as we've never really lived so far from each. I now live an hours drive from my parents and my brother and that's probably like the furthest. LOL. I'm lucky that we have such a strong family bond.
I'm one of five kids and I really do have a close bond with all my brothers and sisters. I couldn't imagine not having them in my life and my heart really does break for people who don't have that with their siblings. Family really is everything and I'm very grateful to my husband for agreeing to remain up north so that we could be closer to my family. That's not to say that there haven't been difficult times but we've worked through them and I'm glad we did. I wouldn't be without my family for anything.
I'm one of the three children in my family. I'm the oldest and I have two younger brothers. One is quite close in age to me but with the other one there is a very big age gap - I was almost an adult when he was born! But funnily enough it's my youngest brother who I get on very well with and we've always been close. With my other brother, we've had a more difficult relationship over the years. We've been in and out of contact for a long time so I don't get to see his children or have much of a relationship with them which is sad because they are my only niece and nephews, and my kids only cousins from my side of the family. The fact that my brother is married to a very difficult woman doesn't help but that's just how it is. At least we both have a bond with our other brother so that's something. Despite the very big age gap between my boys, I do hope they'll be close and not have the kind of difficult sibling relationship that me and my brother have.
I'm one of four. I have an older brother, a younger brother, and the baby of the family is my sister who my parents will say was the very happy accident! It's weird to think that my mum was only a bit younger than me when she had her last child, and I haven't even had my first! I'm in my forties now and probably won't but it's less to do with my age and more to do with the fact that I'm just enjoying life too much!
I'm very close to all my siblings though. It's how we were raised - to put family first at all times. That's not to say we haven't bickered and squabbled because of course we have. But there have been no major bust-ups as I've seen with other families so we've been very lucky like that.
My parents split up when I was a young child so as a result I have a total of six other siblings as both my parents remarried and went on to have other children. Though I NEVER see them as my half-siblings which a lot of people are quick to point out. They're my brothers and sisters and that's that!
Though that said I am closer to some siblings than I am to others. However I know from people who also have big families that that can happen whether you have two common parents or not. But while my relationship with each of them may be different in certain aspects, I love them all equally but we all have busy lives especially with one living down under and the others having families of their own as I do. But we all make the effort to keep in touch and try to meet up whenever possible. And I'm sure I don't need to explain that that hasn't really been possible all the time over the course of the last two years! So thank goodness for Zoom and WhattsApp!
I have sisters, my husband has a brother, and I have a son and a daughter. We are very lucky in that we are ALL very close to our siblings. That doesn't mean that bickering doesn't occur, and my children are at an age where squabbling is inevitable, but on the whole we are very close and very much geared towards family life. Our friends are very important to us and we love them but we've been raised to understand that family always comes first and I think that's why the sibling bonds within our family is very strong. I honestly don't know what I'd do without my sisters.
I have one older brother and we are definitely very close. I lost my dad at a very young age so growing up it was just me, my brother and my Mom. I do think that the tragedy we experienced in losing Dad when we did is what brought us all together to be the tight unit of three that we are. Though of course I'd like to think that even if Dad had still been here, we'd still have been a very close family.
I have enormous respect for my brother. I won't lie and say we didn't have our moments growing up. Just ask my Mom! But he had to take on the role of the man of the house when he was still only a teenager and he looked after us very well. He's got a good heart and is so funny. I'm so proud to call him my big brother.
I only have one younger sister. Are we close? I guess at certain times we are but for the most part I have my life and she has hers. We don't dislike each - far from it - but we are very different people and our lives have moved in different directions. I moved away from the small town I grew up in around sixteen years ago when I headed to college and I made friends who became my family. In fact I'm still very close to them today. My sister didn't move out of state like I did and now she's married to a great guy so she's already working on building her own family. My sister and I meet up during holidays and stuff, but we're not really ones for meeting up or catching up over the phone. That's just the way our relationship works.
I won't lie - there are times I could cheerfully strangle my siblings. And I'm sure the feeling is mutual! They're a bunch of headcases - but what can I say, they're my headcases! Obviously living thousands of miles away I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to but I keep up to date with whatever they're up to.