Sibling Dates

So tonight my brothers and I went on a sibling date. We do these every so often. Usually just an impromptu outing, lunch, or movie for just the three of us. We went to see the day's last showing of "Twilight". I think we are the last three people in this town who haven't sat riveted for nearly two hours as love conquers all and the good and bad vampires battle it out. We really enjoyed it. And it wasn't awkward at all sitting next to my little brother in a dark theater willing Edward to kiss her already.
It got me to thinking about our sibling bond. We all have migrated back to our home town of Silverdale to be near one another and our mom. I see one or the other of them nearly every day yet still we enjoy one another's company enough to share our free time with each other. My two brothers are as different from each other as two men can be. Adam is three years older than me. He is kind and thoughtful, always willing to fill whatever need you have. He is a bit of a loner. He has a few very close friends and is fiercely loyal to those in his inner circle. I see selflessness in him that is as close to Christ like as it gets. Its funny because he is quiet yet can get riled up quicker than the rest of us. I think that is because his feelings are right there on his sleeve. CJ is three years my junior. He is vivacious and outgoing and always willing to let you fill whatever need he has. He is definitely the youngest child in our family line up. He is funny and vocal, and brings a sort of light with him where ever he goes. We used to call him the "golden boy" because what ever he set his mind to he accomplishes. He is smart and industrious so the only thing that has ever been able to hold him back in life is himself. He is also very loving and very protective of us all.
I don't know if I have seen a sibling bond like ours before. It makes me wonder what my parents did right to create a sense of not only unity between us but of belonging with one another. We weren't always close growing up. We fought, drove each other crazy, and engaged in many a battle of wills against one another, but at the end of it all, here we are, laughing with one another and feeling at home in one another's company.
I remember that we prayed together every day. My mom made us do this affirmation after every family prayer: "I like myself, I trust myself, I believe in my self, I have faith in myself, I love myself, and the whole family". Its funny how weird that sounds to write and even funnier that we always had extra kids at our house and they just fell in line with it. We read scriptures together. Its interesting because half the time we fought against it and wined and I don't know why my mom kept going with it when we would ruin the spirit she was trying to create. But I also remember how it felt to sit with my family and feel like we were engaged in something good and beyond ourselves, connected as a family eternally. We did family home evenings. I only remember a few of the lessons we learned but I remember making and eating cinnamon toast and loving it. I remember that my mom let us sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar at a really young age and her not getting upset when we would make a mess. My mom was big on us being kind to one another, especially with our words. She ran a big sheet of butcher paper down the stair wall to our basement and for a month we were to just write anonymous comments about members of our family. Things we appreciated about one another, nice things that we noticed someone doing, or just an "I love you" note. We did this other thing, which had a cute name I can't remember, where we made envelopes for each of our doors and secretly drew names and for a given period of time we would leave small gifts or notes to that person in their envelope. Then we would re draw names and it would continue.
I don't think that there is a secret formula. I think that my mom worked really hard to help us find the best in each other. She would always say, "friends come and go, but family is forever". It was a tricky little bit of brain washing on her part but it worked. And I don't think that it was just the good stuff that we bonded over. The three of us came from the same place. Along with a lot of good there were stressful and sad times in our home as well. Adam and CJ are the only ones who really understand what is was like to grow and develop in our particular home environment. We have watched each other with every one of life's struggles and seen how those struggles have helped form us into the adults we are today. We have celebrated every one of life's joys with one another. There will be no other person on this planet who can appreciate who I was, who I am, and who I am going to be, because only my brothers have been with me from the start. I feel more secure in this world knowing that I have my family near me. They aren't in every detail of my daily life like my husband and kids, but they are always there humming in the background, letting me know where I always belong, where I am always accepted, where I am always loved.