Change

I still can't believe my little brother is now a married man. "Little brother", heh. Even now I insist on calling him that, largely out of affection, but partly I suspect as a means of inflating my own status - a childish trait maintained for childish reasons. It's not a term that's really applicable any more - Nicky surpassed me in stature a great many years ago, and in many other ways since then. Out of all my siblings he's the one I retain most affection for (though as I've come to realise just recently, if not too late, I have a great well of feelings for all my brother and sisters), and the one I connect with most easily. We have similar outlooks and tastes (though with plenty of room for discrepancies), and I trust his judgement implicitly. I suspect this is due to our shared childhood - we were treated almost as twins in many ways, with a shared bedroom (I got the upper bunk) and shared bedtimes - our mother even insisted on buying us similar - or worse, identical! - clothing. I resented this of course, particularly as the age gap between us was similar to that between my elder sister and myself. Yet I saw myself being denied the privileges she was accorded, and I came to resent Nicky as a result, for no other crime than being my brother. We spent a great deal of time fighting, as I did my best to try and differentiate myself from him. Such a waste. I've grown some since then, enough to look back on times past and hope I've been able to make amends.

It's a cliche to say that you couldn't be happier about a particular turn of events, but I'll stand by it in this case, since it holds absolutely true. Nicky and Kerry are, as everyone who's ever seen them together will testify, a perfect match. Watching them standing hand in hand before the alter in the church, I was humbled by their unshakable confidence that this was exactly how things should be. That there was no-one else in the world for them, save each other.

I'm proud of both of them.