Hilary & Tom

Tom and I are 14 months apart... exactly. My birthday is December 8, 1990, his is February 8, 1992. So, except for the first year and two months of my life, Tommy has always been around.

I guess we're lucky. We get along extremely well. We hug, we hang out, we'll laugh together, make fun of our family and friends, make fun of ourselves, tell each other secrets, keep each other's secrets, dance...

"Someday, you guys are going to be best friends," our parents would always say. I never believed them. But in a way I guess it's true. Tom doesn't know everything, but he knows a lot, and I do consider him to be one of my best friends.

One good thing about having your brother as your best friends is that even if you fight, you know it will be fine. I don't think Tom and I ever apologize to each other anymore. We'll be mad at each other for a little while and then we just know that it's alright and we can move on. We have an understanding. That's a luxury I do not have with my other friends. Often times, I'd much rather move on and forget about it... whether I am on the accepting or the giving side of the apology.


So I'm Tom's only sister. Whenever I tried to find out who he liked he wouldn't tell me. So I guess in my mind, girlwise in Tom's life, it was me and my mom. I guess that's why it was weird for me to see him with his date at Junior Prom this weekend.


I'm not always going to be the girl that Tom comes to for advice. I'm not always going to be the girl that he talks to when he's frustrated, jokes around with, laughs with, fights with. Someday he's going to find another girl to do all that with and I'll just be his big sister. It feels really strange for me, really sad. It feels like the end of an era.

I'm leaving next year, and while I'm worried that it might tear us apart, I can only hope and pray that the physical distance brings us closer together. I am truly blessed to have such a great brother. I always get comments like, "Wow, you and your brother get along so well--I wish I was that close to my brother," or "You guys have a really strange relationship. I don't ever talk to my brother." I think it's sad that siblings don't get along and I'm so glad that I landed in the family I'm in. I don't know where I would be without Tom. He's there for me through thick and thin and he doesn't ever betray me. Well, he might make fun of me in front of my friends, but usually he's pretty good about being nice to me =]