5 Reasons Why my (Younger) Brother is my Hero–10 Days of Inspiration (Guest Post)

It’s nothing new to imagine the idea that siblings inspire each other. I know that most siblings tend to look up to the oldest, simply because they were their role model during childhood. If you’re like me though, you may not have always been the best role model (Do as I say, not as I do, right?).

They helped you learn, they guided you, and proved a place of solace for those fears and concerns that you may have been too embarrassed to speak to your parents about.

I was the oldest growing up. I had to be the one who stood as the example for my younger brother, and my parents never let me forget it. “Your brother watches you!”, they would say.

I didn’t always like being the oldest. As other oldest siblings know, it kinda sucks. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve heard from other people that being the middle and youngest sucks too, but there are certain parts of being oldest that places a lot of responsibility on kids.

Fortunately, I was blessed with one of the best younger siblings a person could ask for. He is loving, quiet, kind, and most importantly, an inspiration to me every single day. As my brother and I faced challenges in life at a young age, I saw qualities in him that I will never forget and that still shine through today.

My Brother is Perfectly Imperfect.

When our parents brought my brother home and introduced me to the new baby in our lives, my life changed.

I entered a new phase of life and transitioned from only-child to oldest child. This was a hard transition, as it is for most kids. To be honest though, it was only the beginning of the changes our family, and my brother, would face.

When he was two years old, my brother was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. No longer an official DSM-V diagnosis, it is a form of high-functioning Autism.

To be clear, a diagnosis has never, and will never, define my brother. However, it brought a new level of changes to our lives. We had to learn to enter his world. Our family grew and shifted as we embraced what the rest of the world saw as “imperfections”.

Let me tell you, my brother is perfect exactly the way he is. Every quirk. Every difference. It’s all perfectly imperfect, just like the rest of us.

My brother is my hero because, through our childhood, he taught me that it’s okay to be who we are. He showed me a new way of seeing the world and enjoying life.

My younger brother taught me how to be me.

My Brother is Kind.

Of course, most people will say this about their loved ones. There is something special about the kindness seen in my brother.

He loves each and every person he meets. He holds no grudges, and his level of forgiveness exceeds even the most admirable people. I honestly can’t remember a time when he was mean. Seriously. Even as children, he was always nice.

To be quite honest, he’s almost nice to a fault. His compassion often leads to him being taken advantage of. As the misbehaved older-sibling that I was, I would use his kindness to often get what I wanted. As adults, he often gets the short-end of the stick when it comes to compromises.

Even so, I envy this. I do my best to be kind and empathetic in my life, as I think all people should. I use my brother as an example of the kind of loving person I want to be.

My Brother is Strong.

I don’t think he realizes it, but my brother is one of the strongest people I have ever met. Truth is, I’m an Army veteran, so that’s saying a lot.

When my mother passed away in 2012, I was over 4,000 miles away in Hawaii. I was twenty-one years old and had already started falling apart at the seams knowing that her time was near. It didn’t get better after the dreaded phone call.

My brother was fourteen years old.

Now, nobody is perfectly strong in these situations. Not one single person confronts a loss like that with no emotion or grief process. There is also NOTHING wrong with the emotions that come with losing someone.

My brother though, my little brother met this life-changing moment with some of the most strength I have ever seen. While our worlds were turned upside-down, my brother faced each day with confidence.

I saw a level of emotional strength in him that I had never witnessed before. While I was barely hanging on, he stood there for me. My younger brother walked with me, holding my hand, on our journey of loss. Even with the physical distance between us, I knew he was there.

My Brother is Driven.

Let me start off this section by saying, I am now 27 years old, and I have no idea where my life is going. I’m a mom to wonderful children. I know that I have an amazing husband. I am a blogger who loves what she does, but that’s about it. Honestly, I don’t know where life will take me down the road.

This is not the case for my brother. He is driven. He knows what he wants, and he goes after it. If people tell him he can’t, or he shouldn’t, he ignores them (or tries to).

I have watched my brother transform from this little kid who was shy, reserved, and indecisive into a young man who knew exactly what he wanted to do in life and knew exactly how to get there. He’s still shy and reserved though, so there’s that.

As much as my brother appreciates and respects the opinions and views of others who love him, he knows what he wants. He is going to do what he loves.

He was, and is, the inspiration behind my mindset with my own children. I don’t care what they will be when they grow up, I just want them to be happy and love what they do.

So, my little brother is not only a hero to me, but to my children as well. He shows them that it’s okay to strive for your own version of success.

My Brother is Creative.

Last, but far from least, I am insanely jealous of my brother’s creativity and talent. He is the singer of the family, the artist of the family, and now the photographer of the family as well.

His creativity is beyond inspirational, and I truly think it can be attributed to his positivism and determination to find his own path.

I was really into art and drawing as a child, and even in high school. I was okay, and of course my parents were proud of my work, but I knew I could never be good enough to BE an artist. It was just something I enjoyed. Please don’t ask me to draw now, it’s horrible, I promise. Not like riding a bike at all. You 100% forget. 

My brother always came behind me and just surpassed me in every creative arena. When I was younger, this made me upset, but as an adult I am just in awe of how far he has come and how amazingly unique he has become.

My Brother is a Hero.

I know these reasons may not seem like much to everyone, but they mean the world to me. There are things in life that we often take for granted, and certain qualities are usually included in those.

I value the kindness, strength, creativity, drive, and ability to know who you are that my brother holds. These are qualities that a lot of people have forgotten these days.

I consider by brother to be one-in-a-million. He is an inspiration to me and to others. He is a hero.

 

About the Author: Erin Vaughn is the owner of the family and parenting website, Vaughn Day at a Time. She is a chauffeur, chef, referee, and hug-giver to four amazing kids. She is a mother by day and blogger by night.