Reserve Duty
My brother and I haven't always gotten along as well as we do now. In fact, when we were kids we hated each other. More accurately, I worshiped him in that extra annoying way that only little sisters can, and he hated me in that awful way that only big brothers can. I used to ask him when our mother would be home and he would say, "never, she's dead".
The age difference didn't help. He's 4 1/2 years older than me which helped me pick things up earlier than some kids (like reading, and algebra), but it didn't help us develop that tight sibling relationship that some brothers and sisters have.
Whatever the reasons though, we did eventually start getting along when he was 18 and I was 14. We'd grown up in the country and the previous year had moved in to the big city which he loved and I hated. He took the opportunity to take me under his wing and teach me the things that he loved about the city. Public Transportation. Live Music. 24 hour diners. He told me how easy it would be to sneak out of our house (which he was dead wrong about because my step-dad was a really light sleeper).
Then, one day, shortly after I started high school, he took me out to the movies. I thought we were bonding, but he was really just trying to soften me up to tell me that he'd joined the army. I was so angry. Just when we were starting to get along he was leaving. I'd barely scratched the surface of the brotherly advice I needed to get through high school. I didn't have any other siblings, and I'll admit that my first reaction was disbelief that he could leave me alone like that.
That was early in 1993 and he left for basic training in the spring that year. It wasn't war time then, but serving in the military isn't the safest job even during peace time. I missed him. I worried about him a lot. I felt bad for him that he had to spend his twenty first birthday in the field doing training exercises, sleeping on the ground, probably in the rain.
My brother was only in for four years so he came home in the spring of my freshman year in college. What you need to know though, if you don't already, is that there's an eight year minimum for the army (in the US), which means even if you only sign up for four years, you're on reserve for four more after that. My brothers duty officially began in March 1993 which means his reserve duty ended in March 2001.
I don't usually think much about the fact that my brother just barely missed getting called up. Maybe I'm thinking about my brother now because his birthday is coming up, and maybe it's just the general nostalgia that seems to have taken hold of me lately. I can't tell you though how thankful I am that my brother missed getting called up and sent to Afghanistan by just a few months. I know other people who are currently serving in various branches of the armed services, and I care about them a lot, and worry about them too, but I still can't stop myself from thinking, occasionally, thank God it's not my brother.
The age difference didn't help. He's 4 1/2 years older than me which helped me pick things up earlier than some kids (like reading, and algebra), but it didn't help us develop that tight sibling relationship that some brothers and sisters have.
Whatever the reasons though, we did eventually start getting along when he was 18 and I was 14. We'd grown up in the country and the previous year had moved in to the big city which he loved and I hated. He took the opportunity to take me under his wing and teach me the things that he loved about the city. Public Transportation. Live Music. 24 hour diners. He told me how easy it would be to sneak out of our house (which he was dead wrong about because my step-dad was a really light sleeper).
Then, one day, shortly after I started high school, he took me out to the movies. I thought we were bonding, but he was really just trying to soften me up to tell me that he'd joined the army. I was so angry. Just when we were starting to get along he was leaving. I'd barely scratched the surface of the brotherly advice I needed to get through high school. I didn't have any other siblings, and I'll admit that my first reaction was disbelief that he could leave me alone like that.
That was early in 1993 and he left for basic training in the spring that year. It wasn't war time then, but serving in the military isn't the safest job even during peace time. I missed him. I worried about him a lot. I felt bad for him that he had to spend his twenty first birthday in the field doing training exercises, sleeping on the ground, probably in the rain.
My brother was only in for four years so he came home in the spring of my freshman year in college. What you need to know though, if you don't already, is that there's an eight year minimum for the army (in the US), which means even if you only sign up for four years, you're on reserve for four more after that. My brothers duty officially began in March 1993 which means his reserve duty ended in March 2001.
I don't usually think much about the fact that my brother just barely missed getting called up. Maybe I'm thinking about my brother now because his birthday is coming up, and maybe it's just the general nostalgia that seems to have taken hold of me lately. I can't tell you though how thankful I am that my brother missed getting called up and sent to Afghanistan by just a few months. I know other people who are currently serving in various branches of the armed services, and I care about them a lot, and worry about them too, but I still can't stop myself from thinking, occasionally, thank God it's not my brother.
posted by Beth at
10:20 PM
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