My little brother the asshole…

I used to be one of my brother’s biggest defenders. When someone dissed him and his wife, I was usually the first to step up and say that it wasn’t our place to question their choices. It was their life, and they’re free to make whatever decision they want no matter how wrong they look in our eyes. One of my biggest quotes used to be if what my brother was doing was a mistake, it was his to make. We learn from our mistakes, they make us who we are and hopefully they make us better people in the long run. After close to six to seven years of this bullshit, I’m clearly sick and tired of being my little brother’s defender and have now become one of his biggest critics. It wasn’t an overnight thing, it took years of bullshit for me to come to this position, and after some heated discussions and some very huge email exchanges… my little brother and I are at ends. Wasn’t much of a stretch since neither of us had been talking that much to begin with, which was one of my original gripes.

I moved to the big city two years ago from the island with my family. For close to ten years there was 2000 km separating myself from my family, and it was hard to come by and visit them, and because of that a lot of time was lost. One thing I wanted to do when I came back was make up for some of that time lost, especially for those closest to me. After two years, I’m afraid to report catching up with some people has been very difficult. Some has been still because of geography, and some because of time tables, but some just don’t want anything to do with me. Gotta love family, eh?

The problem with my little brother isn’t distance, he lives less than 10 minutes away by car! Ten minutes! I can count on one hand how many times my brother has come by to visit in the last two years, and that is truly sad considering the lack of distance between us. Last year, I sent my brother a very harsh email concerning last year’s holidays, but I guess the message fell on deaf ears. Last holiday season I found not only myself, but my wife and kids and my older brother shut out from his holiday plans while his wife’s family as well as my Mom and Dad welcome to come over to his place to enjoy the festivities. Given the situation I was in concerning my health this time last year, I voiced my disappointment and let him know where I stood.

One year can be considered a misunderstanding, two years in a row is being a complete dickhead.

This year, the holidays come and went and once again little brother who only lives ten minutes away couldn’t be bothers to offer the time of day not only to myself but to my wife and my kids. Once again his wife’s family was invited to celebrate with him and his kid, as were my Mom and Dad, but not us. Not only does this insult the crap out of me, but what have my kids done to deserve this neglect from their uncle? For the second year in a row, nothing from the little brother… not even a fucking card. Cheap ass mother fucker. I’m an Atheist so I couldn’t care less about getting anything for the holidays but I can see the disappointment in my wife’s face who values the holidays as a time for family to get together and spend time with one another. My kids have been spoiled so one more gift isn’t going to be missed, but I ask the question again: what the hell did they do? These two boys are the only neices/nephews he’s got… yet he could care less. What a heartless bastard.

Ditto for the shrew he calls a wife who I now hold fully responsible for his negative attitude. My little bro used to be a more sincere and compassionate person than this, and she is the cancer that changed him for the worse. Little bro used to be the kind of guy who would help first and ask questions later, volunteer his time for those less fortunate than himself and have a heart of gold. If you told me ten years ago that my little brother would go two Christmas’ in a row without buying a single gift for my kids… I would have laughed in your face and called you a liar. The bro I knew ten years ago would have robbed banks and stolen purses from old ladies rather than not give a gift to his only nephews. Today I don’t know if he would piss on one of them if they were on fire.

A year ago I was fighting with the possibilty that I might need brain surgery to remove an aneurisum. Two months ago, I was tested for cancer. Thankfully, both tests came back negative. I had a few life threatening scares, and because of this I reached out to my little brother wanting to spend time with him this holiday season. This request was met with silence. Right now I’m so angry at what an asshole he’s been that if he were to show up at my door right now, I would have to fight a strong urge to punch his lights out for being such an insensitive dick.

Right now talk is cheap. I’m tired of talk because that’s all I’ve heard for the last two years. If anyone tries to give me the same old bullshit I’ve been hearing for the last twenty four months concerning this issue, they’re going to get a pimp slap upside the head from yours truly, possibly more depending on my mood. I don’t want money, I don’t want gifts, I don’t want lavish feasts… I made that perfectly clear in last year’s letter. While all of those things are nice, they have never been and never will be requirements to be my friend. I made it perfectly clear to my brother last year that I want a chance to hang out just in case the next medical crisis is the real thing and I don’t have what it takes to dodge the bullet because when I’m gone it will be too late. When that happens the beat down little brother is taking now will be nothing compared to the one he’ll give himself after my time is up…

Peter