Your relationship with your siblings . . .

1. 79

   elayne001posted 13 years ago

   I was born and raised in one area and then after getting married have lived most of my life far away from my siblings. It has been hard to keep the relationship going, although it really was never that close to begin with - how about yours?

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   1. 81

      peachpurpleposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      same with me. My brother and I , we meet on Christmas day only. We are like far related relative. Sometimes awkward when trying to strike a conversation, don't know how he thinks.

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      1. 85

         gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Only child, no siblings, but am very close to my second cousin, also an only.   She calls me everyday, God bless her.

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2. 88

   WryLiltposted 13 years ago

   My sister was a couple of years older, but she was born with severe brain damage because of hydrocephalus (sp?). She died about 8 years ago. So I never really knew her.
   
   So I guess I get to claim the first 'raised as an only child' spot in the thread.

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3. 0

   ralwusposted 13 years ago

   distant, and three are now gone. 3 remain. we are all too old to do much else about it all and have our own families

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4. 60

   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   One brother five years younger.  One sister five years older.  Close to both of them, which is nice because "we're it" when it comes to our childhood family now (parents, aunts,uncles, etc. no longer here; cousins drift other than the occasional card or e.mail).  "Adopted half-sister" out there somewhere.  (My mother adopted a five-year-old after we were grown and our father had died.  When my mother died she found her bio family and eventually drifted.)

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5. 76

   frogdroppingposted 13 years ago

   I'm one of four. 2nd eldest. Have a great relationship with my sister. She's a beautiful woman/person. We're great friends, not just sisters.
   
   Neither of our brothers speak to us. Nor my mother come to that. Life is good

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6. 84

   KCC Big Countryposted 13 years ago

   I'm an only child but very close to one of my cousins.  We were born only 6 wks apart.  We were bridesmaid/maid of honor in each other's weddings.  We even created craft items for a couple of years and had a booth together at a local craft mall.

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7. 0

   Wendi Mposted 13 years ago

   I have 2 younger sisters.  I get along great with both of them when we're together. 
   
   There's not much communication between me and my youngest sister.  My middle sister brought me into AA in 2006 so we have a much stronger bond.

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8. 91

   Polly Cposted 13 years ago

   I am the eldest child, I have a sister 3 and a half years younger but age is irrelevant now. We have always got along pretty well, though used to fight as well as children! Now we are still close even though we don't see each other that often.
   
   I also have 2 half brothers as my parents are separated. They are very much younger than me - 20 plus years - and I have never really thought of them as brothers but as more like nephews. In fact, the youngest of the two is only 2 years older than my son and they get along quite well. Families are quite weird sometimes!

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9. 53

   jyotsna ignatiousposted 13 years ago

   i thought foreighners didn't give any importance to the relationships, but now i am queit haapy about ur answer

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10. 72

    Diane Insideposted 13 years ago

    I am the oldest of four, I never see any of them, unless it is at my parents house during special occasions. So basically no relationship with any of them.
    
    My husbands brother died a few years ago so he has no one either.
    
    So I feel we are right for each other. Because we understand each others predicament with our families.

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11. 0

    Stevennix2001posted 13 years ago

    im the oldest,but me and my brother have never been close. Sure, we joke around a lot sometimes, and we have many of the same tastes in films.  however, he rarely ever talks to me unless he has to.  and when we do talk, we always talk about either movies or sports predominantly.  sure, we'll talk about the occassional family member that's going through hard times like either my mom, who has breast cancer right now.
    
    as far as us being close to where we can talk to each other anything like our own social lives, then no we're not close at all.  in fact, if wasn't for my parents often just blurting out and telling me exactly what my brother goes through, then i would have no idea what goes on in his life at all.  sure, you can blame me by saying, "well steve, it's probably  your fault because your not taking more interest in your brother's life. blah, blah, blah."  however, if you did say that, then you wouldn't know what your talking about when it comes to me, as i have asked him various times, and he never tells me anything.  if anything he treats me more like a buddy than a brother, and he treats his best friend more like a elder brother.
    
    do i feel bad about it?  yes and no.  yes, because i feel like i might've failed him as a older brother to get that way in our relationship.  no, because it's his choice, and i can't control what he does or feels.  therefore, i don't worry about it often.  sure, i would like to be a lot more closer to my family someday, but the older i get, i doubt that's going to happen.

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    1. 79

       schoolgirlforrealposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Have to admit that's very thoughtful

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12. 80

    lex123posted 13 years ago

    We were eight, and now only 6. The remaining 6 are 4 sisters and 2 brothers. We contact each other often, whether they are in the same country or outside, even though we all have our own families. Distance doesn't make a difference to us. If one among us speaks to any one of the siblings, the message will be passed to all others. We open up to our siblings in times of good or bad, and feel always safeguarded in the web of our family. If we don't hear from our siblings we  feel very depressed. 3 of us are in the same city, and we speak to each other almost every day.

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13. 87

    Denise Handlonposted 13 years ago

    What a great question, Elayne.  We started with six, and one brother died back in the 80's.  We were all very close growing up, although we had our fights.  Four brothers and my sister and I.  Now, we are all close except for my youngest brother who is estranged from the family.  We all live in different parts of the country but stay in contact via phone and letters and reunions/visits.  My sister and I are the closest in bonding.  She is also a writer and I'm trying to get her to join the Hubpages Community.

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14. 79

    schoolgirlforrealposted 13 years ago

    Hey
    I talk about this all the time actually.
    
    I have 5 brothers and 4 sisters all older.
    
    It goes boy girl boy girl down the line.
    
    They are all basically pretty nice
    some are tricky
    And many are very  nice. I have contact with all.

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15. 0

    L a d y f a c eposted 13 years ago

    I was raised an only child and when I was a teenager, found out I am one of 7. I now have 2 sisters and 4 brothers, and I am directly in the middle. Our relationships are varied, and it's hard because they all grew up together and knowing each other.
    
    I talk occasionally with my older sister who lives away, and with one of my older brothers who also lives away, and more frequently with one of my youngest brothers who lives sort of close.
    
    I've never had the pleasure of meeting my other older brother and his family, but my other younger brother, who lives in the same city as I, I have. I thought we were getting close, and thought everything was going great until he just didn't show up at my wedding in May. I sent him an email afterward asking if everything was ok and I haven't heard back from him yet. When I ask one of my other brothers about it he just gets frustrated and mad about it and starts going on about him in a bad way.
    
    I try hard to keep a relationship with my younger sister. I asked her to be a bridesmaid in my wedding and, 3 months before-hand I had to relieve her of her duties because she didn't care at all about it. When I told her, I got a very relieved 'oh, good'. I know she probably had her legit reasons, but it still kind of hurt. She's all over the map so it's hard to keep it contact with her.
    
    Sometimes I wish I had grown up with them all so that I could feel more like a part of their family. I grew up an only child always wishing I had siblings. Now that I have them I understand how complicated family relationships can get. This may sound sad, or sappy or whatever, but I hope someday I can feel close to them like my friends feel close with theirs.

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16. 77

    sofsposted 13 years ago

    I have five brother ,all older, having our own families has created a distance , being in different cities have added to the distance, but we have managed to stay close to each other , we visit as much as we can, we speak on the phone regularly...
    The case of the blood being thicker than water..

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17. 78

    kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

    Humm. Well I have twin brothers on my dad's side. I got to live with them for a few years before I was taken out of the home and given to my adopted family. My brothers are now grown but in my mind they are still those cute little boys who got into mischief all the time and I don't really know who those grown guys are I see in pictures and such.
    
    On my moms side I don't actually know for sure how many siblings I have. At one point I thought it was 5 until I was told about Thomas (or something) a brother who got in touch in adult hood and I realized that my mom doesn't talk about those kids that are totally out of her life. I probably wouldn't know about Annabelle (half sister) if my adopted mom had not found out about her and that she lived relatively close by, we went to her HS graduation. I had twin sisters on my moms side, one of whom died from cancer long before I was born. My brother Noah and I have spent time together but he has a way of falling off the face of the earth every now and then, like now (don't know where he is right now, hope he makes contact at some point). My sister Justine who died a few years ago from a seizure in the bath, she was supposed to have been being watched but the care home left her unattended.
    
    Now I also had adopted siblings. Big Kirsten who was my adopted moms only biological daughter and another adopted sibling, Isha from a previous marriage my adopted mom was in. Have I lost you yet?

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    1. 68

       waynetposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Wow! Busy sisters and brothers....
       
       I only have one brother and we get along now better than we used to when kids as he used to beat me up and steal my pocket money and my sweets.
       
       Now I'm earning online and showing him how to do it and earning more than him ha! We do get along much better now and are Facebook buddies, see him about once ever couple of months if I don't bump into him in town that is.
       
       He's a chilled out dude now!

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       1. 78

          kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Tell me about it! I used to have to draw diagrams and graphs explaining who was who and such when in therapy (wonder why I winded up in therapy!)
          
          Stealing your sweets! How horrible
          Sounds like you guys are on good ground now, you know thats a pretty lucky thing
          My hubby has a brother and they should not be allowed to spend much time together, it always ends badly. It does seem that sibling rivalry and what not is kinda par for the course and when you do get along that is a real blessing.
          
          What I find sad is situations like my dads. He and his sisters were tight as thieves growing up in an abusive house hold. They always had each other and as they grew up and had families that bond remained as strong as ever. Until recently that is. There was trouble over my Grandmothers estate. They were all given her estate with the proviso that Grandpa Bob got to stay there as long as he was able. A few years ago he couldn't live alone anymore and went to live with his family (not the abusive dad my dad and aunts grew up with) and the house went up for sale. When it sold my aunts wanted to use the money to reimburse them for the years of taxes they paid on the house while my dad had not helped with that kind of up keep. He did not want any of his third to go to back payments (so to speak) and there was a sort of fight. My uncle Ozzy got real mad and confronted him, there was some pushing and a fall and my dad took out a restraining order on not just my uncle Ozzy but both my Aunts as well. My dad is struggling now with his health, he suffered a collapsed lung 2 years ago and it has re-collapsed. My step mom is fighting cancer and has been for those 2 years, and he is now dealing with all this on his own. My aunt Kate would have been there for him but she is legal barred from it. It is too sad

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          1. 68

             waynetposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             Oh dear...lifes too short for this malarky, but it does happen....families eh? who'd have em?

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             1. 78

                kirstenblogposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Tell me about it!
                So sad when people let something like money get between them
                Sometimes I think the people we meet in life who are not family by blood can often be more like family then the blood relatives we have. I know this has been the case for me. My family life growing up was totally wacky and unreliable. Words like mom are confusing to me, having had 3 of them plus a foster one to boot. People did like when I was refer to my biological mom as my bio-mom, they would wonder if she had like bionic implants making her some sort of super hero!
                
                I did have a lot more connection and support from friends then family and those friends are more like family to me then my blood relatives, although my Aunt Kate has been really supportive so I do feel lucky to have her

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