The Thing About Brothers
Siblings don’t have to be alike to get along. You just have to find common ground.
The sound of shattering glass sent Mom into immediate superhero rescue mode. Her young mind filled with visions more horrible than the reality of the situation could ever produce.
She raced to the back door to find my brother, and the dog, free of gaping wounds and gushing blood. In the time it took for her to breathe a sigh of relief, the switch flipped from rescue to reprimand.
After a brief lecture and quick swatting, my brother’s indignant, snivelling response was to become one of the classics. This moment would be shared around our house for decades to come.
“Spank Tippy, too. He was watching.”
Fortunately, Tippy was watching from a safe distance as my brother shattered a glass bottle on the rounded concrete top of the storm cellar in the backyard. Had I been outside at the time, no doubt I too would have been joining Tippy under the bus for being a voyeuristic accomplice.
The joys of boys! Who wouldn’t want to hear the splintering sharpness of breaking glass and witness the explosion of savage shards blasting away from the point of impact?
