Mon freres

I have two of them. When I went to college they were just turning 8 and 13. Now they are 14 and 19, mon freres, each loud in their own way. Will just graduated from high school, just moved away from home and has a girlfriend in Georgia. He's slow and methodical, always the family member with the least agenda, which I've always appreciated. The last time I was home he illegally pirated music with me for hours, and my mother took pictures of us sitting at the kitchen table with our laptops ("oh, my sweet little felons...". Dennis is in eighth grade, nervous, smart and has a wicked sensibility that comes out in unexpected and often inappropriate situations. He likes reading what he likes to read-- which means he has no patience for things he considers unnecessary and ridiculous. Of the three of us, Dennis is the sibling who has always most clearly been the most equivocal blend of both of our parents sensibilities, a scientist and historian at his core. I miss them both, but I also dont really know what I miss about them, each of us having grown up for 6 years without the presence of eachother. But I like that I have them, I like that they're growing and above all else, I'm glad to have known them from the beginning.