Well – I bet that has surprised those of you that kindly made suggestions, you weren't expecting that one were you! I warn you the beginning of this a little maudlin but it gets better.
I don't have one, John has two and my sons have one each. I did have a brother but sadly he was killed in a road accident when he was eight years old. I was ten at the time but still recall so clearly the evening's events. I had come home from Brownies to find my Mum beside herself because David was nowhere to be seen. At the time we lived just outside London, separated from the capital by the A1 trunk road a busy road even forty years ago. He was actually killed on that road as he attempted to cross on his bike to collect world cup coins from a petrol station. He was killed outright so didn't suffer. My parents never recovered – especially my Mum. My Dad was more resilient, finding comfort in the bottom of a beer glass and eventually moving on to pastures new and a readymade new family. My Mum's health went downhill slowly from that point as first her physical health deteriorated and subsequently her mental health. I lost my Mum to mental illness when I was about 19, she lived another 11 years but was not 'Mum' she was somebody else altogether. My boys never knew her as they should have done and John only met her as a shell of her formal self.
Since number one son moved out earlier in the year, I have sensed a shift in the relationship between the boys. I knew it would happen at some time but I suppose I wasn't anticipating it just yet. They spend evenings together now playing. Yes, that's right I said playing. Thank heavens for the invention of the video game (or whatever they're called) because nowadays they can beat the living daylights out of each other in good humour playing boxing games on the X-box. No blood or bruises, tears or tantrums. I'm pleased that they can finally be friends as well as brothers. I can remember saying once when they were very young that whatever happened they would always be there for each other and I'm pleased that that prophecy has come true.
Weren't they sweet all those years ago? They'll kill me for this one...
