[30 Days] Your siblings, in great detail [11/30]

The entry is long overdue because of several things that happened this week. 

It involves two actual job offers, hellish commute routes from Quezon City to Makati City, my indecisiveness in choosing the right job offer and my ungodly exhaustion from all of these stressful things happening at once. I am still very grateful to the participation of my family and boyfriend in soldiering through this hectic week. Without them and God's intervention, I think I would have gotten lost again.

Anyway, let's talk about our theme for today. I only have three precious treasures that I have to love, guide and guard throughout their lives and they're called my siblings. Aside from my mother, I don't think I'll ever love anyone as fiercely as them. In my mind, I have only one family unit and that consists of my mother, my sister, and my two brothers. 

There's no one else on earth that I will trust and rely on except them. Simply put, our bond is thick because of blood and of choice.

Now that we're all older, we're closer than ever. It's my mother's quiet joy to see all of us happy and getting along. We're all close to each other and open to displays of affection. We also like hanging out together and had even taken to traveling with each other. It's funny because we rarely fight about minor issues. But when we do fight, we still know how to make up to each other. 

My one and only sister, Klang, is younger than me by four years. I clearly remember that I was mad at her for interrupting my blissful state as the spoiled sweet only child. 

When she was born, my mother didn't even bother to explain the arrival of my new baby sister to me so I went to our bedroom to take a peek at a tiny human with pink cheeks and tinier hands. She smelled like baby sweat and powder. She was so small and fragile to my curious four-year-old self. But I lay down beside her and whispered things to her as she slept on. My mother told me later that she found me asleep beside Klang without any idea how I got there.

Klang and I are as different as night and day. She's quiet and I'm noisy, she's serious and I'm not... You know that sort of thing. But we make a good team when the situation calls for it. She's a Sagittarius so she's meant to be my best friend. As far as sisters go, we have each other's back. 

She's petite at 4'11", slim and strong because her profession as a nurse requires her to be able to lift up her patients while I'm taller, rounder and definitely weak like the little Pillsbury Dough boy. She's very pretty because she's an odd mixture of the best features from both of my parents with a heart-shaped face, cute nose and wide, expressive eyes. 

People often describe her face as suplada or mataray which are both words that roughly translate to bitchy in English. My sister actually perfected the resting bitch face while having a real heart of gold inside. Honestly, my sister has gained a lot of loyal friends over the years who found her warm personality captivating when they got to know her a lot better.

We were so different because I was the dreamer and she was the doer. She was the achiever at high school as a volleyball varsity player, honor roll student and all-around sweetheart. When she wanted to achieve her goals, she will do anything to get it like spend all night going through algebra or anatomy. She had groups of friends, hobbies and other activities that made her stand out. 

When we were younger, we didn't get along well because I was older and she thought she knew better. Well, she did. My sister was wiser than her years and far stronger than me when it came to life skills. But we shared a mutual love for fashion, clothes, good food and beautiful things. We could spend hours and hours just shopping for ukay ukay (secondhand) clothes in our small town. 

Now that she lives abroad, she absolutely adores sending clothes, accessories and other miscellaneous fashion items to Mama and me. We are super thrilled whenever her balikbayan package arrives at our house because it means new clothes, new accessories and my sister's unique way of sharing her love.

My sister is strong because she chose to go abroad for her career and to build her future. She went to a distant country to be a nurse so she could provide a modest house for my mom, to send bunso (youngest brother) to school and to be the success that she's meant to be. We don't often talk much but that's okay. She knows that I'm always here for her and I've got her back. I'm the Ate (oldest sister) and I will do my best to protect her.

It doesn't take a genius to see that she's doing my job for me too. The past four years has been turbulent to say the least. It's taken both of us to become strong and to become better in the face of all of the challenges that we've been through. 

My beloved sister has done so much to help me get back to my feet, to shield me from the problems and to be the pillar that holds up our home. My deep respect and sincere love for her knows no bounds. I want to be strong enough someday so that I can return my very large debt of gratitude.

I'm looking forward to seeing her sit on the couch with dinner and then sleep on the television show that she's supposed to be watching when she comes home for vacation. 

My next younger sibling is Henrix or "Yit" as he's known at home is our third sibling. He's a year younger than Klang and 10 years older than our bunso, Neil. He's responsible, supportive and definitely more mature than me. As it turns out, we both share the same type of personality so we get along like two cats in a litter.

He seems older than his years. My brother is a Pisces so he's moody, spiritual/atheistic and full of selfless love. He loves my mother a lot since he was her baby before Neil was born. 

I appreciate my bond with Henrix since we both tend to stand up to our father in terms of familial disputes. He's really mature for his age. I love him for trying his best to help out our family. We're all doing our part but he's doing the extra mile to keep us afloat. 

Henrix used to dream of becoming a seaman but that's not possible anymore. So now he's got a stable job in a call center as a Quality Analyst. Like me, my brother is attracted to position and power. 

He understands business, politics and he's addicted to world news. He also spends most of his time watching documentaries on National Geographic or Discovery Channel. He also loves playing video games on his PS4 and gaming computer station at home.

Whenever I'm home for the weekend, I talk to him about everything that's going on with my life. We talk about my lovelife, my lack of career direction, my work life and other interesting things. 

We're also open with gestures of affection like hugs but when we have fights, we both yell and scream at each other. Our temper is like a volcano that needs to simmer and then explode in order to calm down. After a heated argument, we'll both look for the other and make up by smoking. We'll both listen to each other's side and then let it go. What I love about my bond with my siblings is that we don't keep a grudge against each other whenever we go through a rough patch. We just can't bear to go to bed angry.

Our bunso or youngest sibling is named Neil. He's seventeen-years-old and a high school student. As the youngest kid, he's pretty spoiled because his older siblings are all working and willing to give him anything he asked for. Thank God, he's only looking for food and video games. 

I was fourteen when Neil was born. It used to annoy me because people used to mistake him for my son. I mean, how weird is that? But I also helped in raising him along with my sister, brother, parents and cousins. I still watch over him every chance I get. That's the best that I can do to help out.

He's smart, sweet and makulit. He likes computer games, Youtube videos, Minecraft and even Netflix. Whenever I see him at home, he's always got earbuds stuck on his ears and I bet that he won't survive without WiFi. As a child born in the early 2000s, he's pretty much a natural at being a digital native. 

I can't say that I'm really close to Neil because our our large age gap. But I do adore him as older sisters always do. He's pretty much spoiled by the whole family (and the extended family). He's the youngest kid so everyone dotes on him shamelessly and he's aware that he can get away with anything. Perhaps that's just the famous Sagittarius luck that takes him out of his scrapes. 

As a high school student, he's focused in his studies. He wants to become an IT professional or a professional gamer someday so we're all looking forward to that. Thank God that he's not yet that interested in pursuing girls. God knows that they're going to distract him from his carefree, happy high school life.

Before I got together with Albin, I used to spend a lot of time with Neil. I'll take him out on dates to the mall, coffee shops and other errands. It's a lot of fun because he's easygoing and understandably delighted to be treated to food and experiences. It's so much fun because he still likes to hold his Ate's hand and carry my stuff around. 

My head hurts a little at the thought that he might not need me anymore someday because he'll always be my kid brother. 

As the Ate, I am very proud of my siblings. They can't do anything wrong in my eyes. Whatever they want to do or whatever path they want to take, I'll support them 100% all the way. Whenever they need my help or they need someone to listen, I'll be there. We're bound together by blood and love so it's going to be a lifetime commitment to each other.

I am looking forward to more travels, more buffets, more clothes, more computer games and more life experiences. I am looking forward to their future and their success. I want to be there for their weddings, their kids and their adventures because I want to be a part of their life so much.

Whatever happens, there's only four of us who can count on each other because we're united as a family.