Brotherly Love

/ roughwighting

Pixabay, income tax, blog, brotherly love, https://idahocapitalsun.com/briefs/paying-to-file-state-taxes-you-probably-dont-have-to-idaho-tax-commission-says/I call him, sucking in my breath and biting my tongue so I won’t cry.

He hates emotion.

But he loves me. I know that. As long as I don’t cry.

“Hay lo,” my brother the accountant answers. It’s noon; he’s inundated with reams of forms and numbers and stress; yet he answers my phone call.

A good sign.

“I’m sorry,” I begin, “that it’s taken all of these years for you to now realize that your sister is a dumb shit.”

siblings, brotherly love, brother and sister

At the beginning…

Without missing a beat, brother Charlie responds, “Oh no, don’t worry. I’ve known that for years.”

I burst out laughing.

He doesn’t.

That’s my wry, dry brother. Then he says, “Relax, you’re normal.”

“As if that’s a good thing!” I exclaim. “There are a lot of normal dumb shits out there.”

“True,” he agrees. Takes a breath and then continues, “Listen, figuring out the income tax is hard for mostly everyone. And I get that your accountant-for-30-years has retired suddenly, and you feel like you’re on your own. Relax. We’ll get this done.”

brotherly love, brother and sister. families that love each otherThis is one of the hundred reasons I love my brother.

 

Do you have a sibling you celebrate today, and every day? 

118 thoughts on “Brotherly Love”

    • A “kindred-soul sister,” What a great honor, to be called one and to have one (or several, I bet). I have no biological sister, but my sis-in-laws are pure “sisters” to me. ❤

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  10. A handy brother! Handy comes in many ways. I’m glad he will help you with the taxes this year. I would have no idea how to do this. Mark takes care of our tax filing – and his mom’s as well. He does use a program for it, though. Luckily, our situation is straightforward. He’s done with both jobs already. 🙂

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  14. I appreciated reading this post this morning, Pam. I woke up early, worrying about a sibling going through some health challenges. I urge anyone on the outs with a sibling (not my situation) to see the bigger picture and try to mend their fences. Whenever our siblings need us, it’s time to circle the wagons.

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    • Prayers and thoughts of healing are going out from me to you and your brother, Pete. And yes, I hear of siblings who don’t speak to each other, and certainly don’t appreciate each other, and it’s sad. We are so different – my brother and I – as are most siblings. But we are FAMILY and grew up together in the same household with wonderful (most of the time) memories of our parents and our life in southern NJ. I told my parents on several occasions, when they were alive, that they did a GREAT job raising a son.

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  15. Ug tax time. Glad you have a brother who loves you. Me I have turbo tax and can do my easy taxes in about 15 minutes. Even when my taxes were more complicated, when I ran a home business, the program made it fairly. If not, I would have been wishing for a brother like yours.

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    • I don’t “do” numbers, so the forms I’m supposed to fill out look like gibberish to me. And in fact, I think they probably ARE gibberish but they keep accountants in business (don’t tell my brother I said that). 🙂 Yes, my brother is a keeper for SO many reasons. Many thanks for reading. ❤

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  16. I do, Pam! My slightly younger brother is my hero in so many ways. The nicest guy ever. You and I have a lot in common in that respect. Not only that… but I’m doing my taxes today. UGH. Thanks for starting my day with a warm smile. Hugs.

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  19. Sibling love is a beautiful thing!

    I have no brothers but I do have two sisters I love and adore. How wonderful you have someone to help you during tax time. I used to do my own and then when Mick started his own company, things got complicated so we switched to an accountant. I still go see him to this day…

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  20. Touching! I have enjoyed friends that have been substitute siblings and cousins, but sadly they became angels way too soon. Laughing with your brother brought tears of joy this morning. Enjoy! Nothing we can do about death and taxes!

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    • I’m glad the dialogue between my brother and me brought some joy, Jeanette. Seriously, I was crying tears of frustration until he called and the conversation was exactly as above. I’m a lucky sister. It is sad when our siblings (substitute or biological) leave us too soon. As you say, death and taxes are inevitable. I suppose tears are not, if we feel the joy and (in my case) have a great brother. xo

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    • Haha. It is a “sweet” conversation even with a few naughty words here and there. My brother and I know how to use some humor to keep us both going in this sometimes cold, cruel world. 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment, Lisa.

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    • The best, Denise, and he has been from the day he was born (and I was the sometimes “naughty” 18-month older sister who got us both in trouble. He’s forgiven me, thank goodness. 🙂

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    • Haha. I stayed clear of “using” my brother as our accountant for years. Mixing family and work and money can be trouble. But in this case, I’m glad he was willing to mix it up! 🙂

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  30. Everyone needs a wry, dry brother like your Charlie. I visited my sister Jan today. I have another sister too. Neither of my sisters would be up to doing our income taxes, especially a complex one like our return, which (as you know) caused fireworks in my second memoir. Yay for you, Pam! 😀

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    • Lauren – HAPPY BIRTHDAY a few days late. Sorry, I was covered in tax forms and numbers that my brother asked me to decipher. ;–0 I bet your siblings celebrate you every day – ’cause you’re a sweet sister for sure. ❤

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  36. There are four of us ~ Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl. I’m #2 and my younger brother (#3) is celebrating a birthday today! Yay!

    Since he’s in Colorado and I’m in Florida, we see each other more often on ZOOM than face-to-face. But, hey. It’s OK . . . we’re all still “above ground.”

    And some of us even have our taxes done. 😀

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    • Happy Birthday to Brother #3 (sorry I’m late – still doing taxes – that last line of yours hit me to the core 🙂 ). Your brother shares the same birthday as Baydreamer Lauren Scott (above). He misses being a Pisces (that’s me) by five days – but an Aries is a GREAT sign: “An Aries born on March 25 is naturally shy, even though they possess the ability to shine at any gathering. At times, they display strong social skills and may be the life of the party. But in reality these individuals draw strength from a rich and creative inner life.”

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  38. I have two brothers that I love to bits. One is 3 years younger and the other 16 years younger. They are as different as can be but I love them both. They always have my back! Brothers are the best, and they don’t care if you are a dumb shit. 💖💖

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    • haha. That’s so true – perhaps brothers even expect their sisters to be a DS (I sign my e-mails to my brother now as DSS – dumb shit sister). But no matter, as you say, they have our back! Thanks for sharing your brothers here, Darlene. How cool to have brothers so far apart (in age and distance), and yet still so full of family love.

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  42. What a wonderful brother! I have a sister that I cherish, and a brother as well. I lost one brother many years ago and we miss that one. It is wonderful to have people you can count on and they are always there for you. 🙂

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