Siblings

To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega

We do not share any genes whatsoever, but we share/have shared a mom, a dad, various animals, a car ( RIP Ford Fiesta), aunts, uncles, cousins (Laurel is mine... sorry), food, drinks, colds, chicken pox, friends, a childhood, much laughter, a lot of tears and many, many memories. We have called each other many names over the years (some repeatable, others not) but no matter what my baby brother (by 17 months) will always be Billy, no matter how old he gets. And he is the one I call first, before anyone else.
The fact that Billy is a surgeon and saves lives still makes me scratch my head. The boy has little common sense at times and has always been that way-- so smart yet so... (you fill in the blank as I am sure to get a head slap when mom reads this). In the past I have been known to tell him he was worthless to me as a general surgeon and we would have been better off had he been a plastic surgeon. Well, he is now worth something and only time will tell how much!
As I said, he is the one I turn to, the one I run things by and the one I moan and groan to (I would like to point out he does the same). So naturally I called him when I came back from the first doctors visit when she confirmed there was something there. I wanted to get his thoughts on telling Mom and he said, it will be nothing, just tell her. So I did. I went to the next appointment---the follow up mammogram and ultra sound,called him... he said it would be fine. Called him when I was told I needed a biopsy, he told me it was standard. So when I called him to tell him what the surgeon said, he was actually a bit speechless as he never thought it would be anything. He kept telling me to wait until the biopsy results came in-- all in that doctor tone of voice. He was pretty much in shock (denial). This continued Friday when I sent him a text saying it was Day 2 knowing I had cancer and he gave me some doctor bs... I told him he was in denial-- he admitted he was and then said he always thought Mom would have a medical problem and that I was out of turn. That's when I asked if I could milk a cruise out of this (I am already thinking of where to next).
Today I sent a text-- just call me cancer girl; he knew immediately the biopsy results were in. So the questions began, from him to me and from me to him. It will be like this during this entire ordeal. Something will happen, I will call him and while he might not answer right away, he will as soon as he can. He will call me at various times to check on me, to check on mom and will be here when I want him to be. (I have in fact told him he will be here this weekend and I did not really care what his plans were-- I am powerful for the moment!). It's just like that with us; sappy as it sounds, he is really one of my best friends and one of the most important ones to boot. And I know he feels the same. I hate he has to go through this with me, but he will and will be right beside me, not always in person, but a phone call and a short drive away. I am so very, very blessed.