I have 1 brother who is 5 1/2 years older than me.
We've never been particularly close. There was a couple of years back in the early 1990's where we seemed to actually grow closer and saw each other pretty regularly. He even asked for my help to clean his apartment when he was moving out, which was a first from him!
However, he met a girl in about 1993 or so who has 14 brothers and sisters and they are a very close knit family and she spends a great deal of time with them, and of course because my brother and her live together he goes along with her to all of her family gatherings etc. So between her family, his work, his part time business, them travelling and their own private interests, we don't see or talk to each other very often...rarely in fact.
They live about 10 minute drive from me and I see them maybe once per year...and one time didn't see them at all of 4 years. If we talk on the phone more than 2 times per year we're doing good!
It's actually to a point where I don't care whether I see or talk to him at all anymore. Since I rarely see or talk to him he's a virtual stranger to me and I feel very uncomfortable going to his house. It's like visiting a stranger.
And TBH unless someone mentions the term "brother", most days I don't even think about him at all. So because of that I can't say that I try to foster a sibling relationship with him, because I don't. And neither does he.
However, I do talk to his ex wife frequently, at least one or more times per week and we go shopping and to lunch often. In fact when I first got home from the hospital she was the one who was coming to take me grocery shopping etc and calling to see how I was doing while my brother never called me to even see if I was alive.
We've never been particularly close. There was a couple of years back in the early 1990's where we seemed to actually grow closer and saw each other pretty regularly. He even asked for my help to clean his apartment when he was moving out, which was a first from him!
However, he met a girl in about 1993 or so who has 14 brothers and sisters and they are a very close knit family and she spends a great deal of time with them, and of course because my brother and her live together he goes along with her to all of her family gatherings etc. So between her family, his work, his part time business, them travelling and their own private interests, we don't see or talk to each other very often...rarely in fact.
They live about 10 minute drive from me and I see them maybe once per year...and one time didn't see them at all of 4 years. If we talk on the phone more than 2 times per year we're doing good!
It's actually to a point where I don't care whether I see or talk to him at all anymore. Since I rarely see or talk to him he's a virtual stranger to me and I feel very uncomfortable going to his house. It's like visiting a stranger.
And TBH unless someone mentions the term "brother", most days I don't even think about him at all. So because of that I can't say that I try to foster a sibling relationship with him, because I don't. And neither does he.
However, I do talk to his ex wife frequently, at least one or more times per week and we go shopping and to lunch often. In fact when I first got home from the hospital she was the one who was coming to take me grocery shopping etc and calling to see how I was doing while my brother never called me to even see if I was alive.
