“We found you in the alley and felt so bad for you, we decided to adopt you,” was the line my siblings and I used on each
other regularly as we were growing up. No one actually believed it, yet the person who was being told they had been adopted always responded, “Shut up, no I wasn’t” in the whiniest possible voice.
That line was representative of our dynamic. ”We found you in an alley…” symbolized our dislike at not being the only child (all of our dreams at one point or another) and “…felt so bad for you we decided to adopt you,” symbolized our love.
That’s the way it is with siblings: the deepest of love, the strongest of rage. We can be mean to each and give each other the silent treatment for days on end (Mami preferred the silent treatment), yet let an outsider mess with any of us, and the rest of us were front and center in the battle line, ready for war.
No one else in this world can inspire such a range of emotion in us or earn such loyalty, even in adulthood. And the stories, oh the stories…
When I was about twelve, my little brother who is four years my junior, stabbed me in the leg with a fork. I don’t know what we had been arguing about, but the minute he walked out the door to throw out the garbage, I locked him out. When he came back up and realized the door was locked he smashed the garbage container into the window, got in, chased me around the apartment, caught me and stabbed my leg. Afer we calmed down we bonded over the realization of just how much trouble we were in for when Mami got home from work. To no one’s surprise, we met with a correa full of consequences.
As dysfunctional as that might sound to some, in my family it’s folklore: A story that has been, and will continue to be, passed to the next generation as we retell it to each other every few holidays. “Remember when Junito stabbed Libby in the leg,” someone will say, and we’ll all laugh and start reminiscing as we’re once again united in our shared history.
That’s how it is with toda la familia: They throw the best parties; don’t behave at funerals; argue with us; make decisions for us, yet somehow help us live longer.
Latino families are important to us because they instill the strong values we hold so dear, becoming a recurring theme in everything we do throughout our lives. Is it any wonder then, that by pure coincidence the Being Latino bloggers focused on many aspects of family life this week?
What are some of your favorite family stories?
About Libby Juliá-Vázquez
One of the favorite stories in my family is about the time my 3 oldest sisters went to watch a fire.
At that time(1940s) my family lived on a major street in Pomona, CA. Every time they would hear the sirens from the fire engines, they would want to follow them and see the fire. Mama would tell them no, because they would be in the way and get hurt.
One day they followed the engines to a nearby fire and my uncle passed by on the way to the store down the street from our house. He made them get in his truck; took them home; and, told Mama where he found them. They had trouble sitting down for the rest of the day!
LOL That is priceless. Tio and Tias are like second Mom and Dad… They’ll get you too!
HAHA I love this post. I also stabbed my brother with a fork in the back when I was 3 (dont remember why). My favorite time was watching my mother shotput a melon on my brothers head 40 feet away while he was running away from her! As he fell face first to the floor, I grabbed a platano and shoved it in his bum (not too hard, just enough to be uncomfortable)….and he then preceded to run after me…..ohhhh great times!!!
HAHAHAH good one Libs.
Lol great article! I remember about 19 years ago, I was probably about 5 or 6, my sister, 8 years older than myself and I were arguing. My mother was right there and trying to calm us both down. I ended up smirking and picking up one of my mom’s heels, flinging it at her face. The actual HEEL part of it just so happened to clonk her in her eye. =O I was forced to apologize but no beating, I was the baby. No wonder to this day my siblings still call me a spoiled brat. They got more whoopings than I ever did. Lol.
LMAO… “Stabbed Libby in the leg”
I remember chasing my brother around with a broomstick. This one time he annoyed me so much that I got a thick stick and chased him around the house until he locked himself in the bathroom to keep me out LOL!
He grew on me like a fungus… Love my siblings to death!
Needless to say, today he’s my favorite brother
It’s been so much fun to read your sibling rivalry stories! My fork-wielding brother and I couldn’t be closer. I think it’s those murderous childhood moments that bond us.
key phrase: “those murderous childhood moments” LOL!!
I loved this!! Being the oldest of three, I took pure joy in torturing my sister. Til this day, she cannot hear me sing David Pabon’s “Apagame” without cringing LOL…good times
When I was a kid I bit my older brother’s stomach and he had to go to the hospital and get a shot – to this day he insists that he was going to hug me. Yeah right!!! Like I don’t know he was going to hit me!!! smh
Oh my goodness, I can totally relate to your story if sibling rivalry. In my case my sis, hit me, drew blood and because I knew she would get in deep trouble if I told on her. She pleaded me not to “trick” on her (to my mom), – I agreed yet I held this incident over her head for a loooong time! And she had to agree to many of my demands!!!! Ah, the memories.
I too have some good stories of my siblings, one stands out more then others, we live in PUERTO RICO, my brothers & I would play in the back yard when my oldest brother decided to play darts I didn’t want to play darts but he was much strong then I. I took the darts away from him & started running with them in my hand, I fell and one got stabbed me on th palm of my hand. I ran to my mom telling her my brother had done this to me & my poor brother got the whipping of his life. I felt so bad I cried & cried till my eyes were swollen eventuality fessing up to my mom she then beat the crap out of me for getting him hit & me for lying. Till today my brother & I talk about that & laugh…I love him DEARLY.