I first met my brother Dan when he was born. We didn’t really communicate too well at first. I was 4 and used very basic English. He mostly just screamed. Over time, the communication in our relationship became more of a two-way thing. Now I can understand most of what he says, except when he is talking about web design. At that point I just smile and nod.
Our interests largely overlap, similar to my interests with my dad. The three of us all love music and sport. My brother and I also share a love of games; both board games and computer games. When we were younger we would spend many hours on whatever gaming system we had at the time, either attempting to beat the other one or getting impatient waiting for our turn on the game.
One specific memory I have is that we were playing the latest version of Madden when the news about 9/11 was coming through. I guess everyone remembers where they were when they find out about stuff like that. Nowadays, me and my brother are more likely to be playing board games in a larger, more sociable group.
One advantage of having a younger brother was that I was able to inflict my musical tastes on him. Several artists that he loves would have come about from overhearing and borrowing my CDs. I then had a Mini Me to take along to gigs when no-one else wanted to go, which was quite often as I was a bit of a musical snob when I was younger and seemed to like a band more if no-one else had ever heard of them.
I’m sure most brothers fight, and we were no different. We’d fight about stupid, unimportant things. Things that are long forgotten about. We were competitive. We could both be stubborn. We’d both think that the other was wrong, or a stupid idiot or whatever. Now that we are “grown-ups,” we are slightly more mature and we have grown past this. These days we a lot more supportive of each other.
In recent years, we have generally only fought when we’re playing co-operative games and both believe we have the best idea about what to do. Obviously I’m right, but sometimes I have to humour him and go with his idea.
We even worked together for a time. We both turned up to a recruitment day at Saga, only finding out a few days before that the other would be there. We both managed to get jobs working in the call centre. One benefit to this was getting to spend more time together, as we had both moved out of home by that point.
We would hang out either during breaks or at the weekends we were both scheduled to work, as you would be able to sit anyone in the office rather than your designated desk. This resulted in the only song that we’ve ever written together, the infamous hidden track on my band’s second album. Thinking about how successful that collaboration was, maybe we should consider another.
Despite the fact Dan is my younger brother, there were definitely times when he had to look after me. I can recall several times when he had to assist me home after I’d had one too many lemonade. I can’t recall very many occasions where it happened the other way round.
Dan will be my best man, returning the honour that he gave me when he married my awesome sister-in-law 5 years ago. Before his wedding, I was unsure if I would ask him to be my best man if I ever got married. It would allow him to get revenge on me for the speech that myself and Mikey (his other best man) had planned, which focused around finding the most effeminate photos of him possible and talking through how we’d thought he was gay whilst drawing a graph penis on a whiteboard. Comedy gold.
After that day, there was no choice in my mind that he would be my best man if I got married. Partly because I’d never been so nervous in my entire life, and partly because I was proud that he had bestowed the honour on me and wanted to do the same for him.
Dan and I don't look too alike, and when he met people, he would often introduce himself as "the younger, more attractive brother." You can't say he wasn't confident. He was always a lot more confident in groups of people than I was. Whilst I always played music, I was happy being at the back whereas Dan seemed to enjoy centre stage whilst acting, and even won awards for doing so.
A few weeks before we got engaged, I got a text from Dan asking when it was going to happen as he had a great speech planned. I’m not sure whether that is a good or a bad thing. I will find out a month today.
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