My Brother, My Best Friend........

 

The other day, my daughter Olivia looks up from her coloring book and says, "Mama, I feel so sorry for my friend Aleena.....".

I was in the middle of tempering my sambar with mustard seeds and curry leaves. Not wanting to burn the mustard seeds and spoil the curry, I mumbled a very disinterested and distracted "Why dear, what's wrong with her?"

"Because she does not have a best friend at home, mama, like I do. Jayden is my best friend in the whole wide world and he is at home all the time because he is my brother. But poor Aleena does not have a brother or sister."

The mustard seeds, curry leaves, sambar and everything else flew out my mind's window as my heart melted and I 'Awww'ed out aloud. I ran to her and hugged her. Both, for calling her older brother her best friend and for being so caring to her friend, Aleena.

I'm sure there isn't a single mom out there who wouldn't love to hear her child call a sibling her 'best friend in the whole wide world'. I felt blessed. It was an early Christmas gift. Suddenly, a slideshow started playing all by itself.....in my mind. Pictures of the day when my daughter was born and my then 4-year old son gazed down at his newborn baby sister flashed through. They were followed by pictures of the two of them playing together. My son pretending to crawl along with his baby sister who proudly showed off her newly acquired travel skills. Nights when my band masters would wake up the neighborhood banging on their makeshift drums and toy pianos. Times when my daughter would burst into tears if we put her brother in the time out chair for some mischief. Saturday afternoons when the whole family would go out for drives and listen to nursery rhymes on the audio system.

How true, having a sibling is like having your best friend at home. Someone to play dressup with, to quarrel with and to watch a movie with. The slideshow now took a retro mode and showed shots of me and my younger sister running around as little girls, throwing cushions at each other as we fought, shopping together as we got older. Lots of good memories flashed by.......

    "Mom, Jayden is not sharing his cars with me."
    "Mom, she is messing up my Legos, make her stop please....."

My mind's slideshow came to a screeching halt with screams from the present.......

Back to reality and the unfinished sambar.