4/19/2011

I should say "thanks," right?


It was a good thing, right?

My 17-year-old self had tried for so long to be like him,
That older brother, thirteen years smarter and wiser,
That sibling held so high in esteem by the parent
I could never please, no matter how hard I tried,
The ideal cited in the frequent exhortation,
“Why can’t you be more like your brother?”

So if my brother said it, it must be good, right?  
 
 “You drive like a man.”

It meant I’d finally done something right.

Right?

Then why did it feel so wrong?

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This is my entry in One Shot Wednesday.

28 comments:

  1. Sibling rivalry... how do we survive it?

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  2. You go girl!!!
    Nice to have someone to "drive" us

    Love ya mon ami

    Moonie

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  3. Family relationships can be so strange, can't they? Great words.

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  4. ha. so just how do men drive...i was the oldest and the pressure of being the example sucks...but my sis could do no wrong...

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  5. It's not all bad! Danica Patrick drives like a man and look at HER! I mean, seriously, LOOK at ...oh, sorry...didn't mean to steer off track but you wrote it just right and made me forget where I am...Good one...always.

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  6. great poem! also made me thankful to be an only child..
    smiles :)

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  7. Comparisons they say here are Horrible... Yeah- some wrongness there is... but hey How I like when my dad tells me, ' Girrl,You drive better than a taximan...' ah---i feel so proud of myself... ((sigh))

    great One again , dear Patti lady!

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  8. Simple yet complex, Patti. I'm only now learning to really pay attention to that feeling that feels wrong, even when the words seem right.

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  9. Hah apparently I drive like a 'lead foot'

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  10. Love it when we 'talk' to ourselves through poetry--right? Or WRONG??? Good shot!

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  11. ha, drive like a man! I'm a good driver, I think.

    And I am 13 years my sister's elder, what a cooincidence!

    xoxo

    And congrats on being SIXTH over there at One Shot today. I have to learn what time the gates open over there, I was way way late.

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  12. I have a brother 13 years older than me, who is our mother's Golden Boy. So, I get this, except for the idolizing part.

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  13. Ha sibling rivalry. Yes an ever present theme. I really enjoyed how you captured the life of siblings. Thank you for sharing! ~Corbie Sinclair

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  14. Why did it feel so wrong? You know, I know, your readers know - because it was praise tainted with chauvinism. Like most, I prefer praises to be unadultered, unfiltered and unabashed.

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  15. oh, those back-handed compliments are awful and patronizing.

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  16. Take it as a compliment... I would !
    JL&B

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  17. Especially a boy...for years I wanted to be a boy because in my upbringing...boys were everything...girls were worker bees....so much for the time...no wonder there was a great rebellion...bkm

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  18. I learned a long time ago - never criticize the driving of another. Invariably, I wind up being wrong.

    As long as we get there in one piece, I could care less.

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  19. Yes, it's "thanks, I think" to this kind of comment.

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  20. the envy of siblings compared to one another glares off the page. nice write.

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  21. We look up to our elder brother so much, yet that compliment would still feel like it had a tinge of sarcasm to us maybe! A rivalry unlike another!

    My Post Is Here

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  22. Perhaps I had things easy - my brother was younger than me! LOL But neither of us drive...

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  23. The teasing of brother...I know it too well...:)

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  24. "Drive like a man"...yeah, hard to know how to take that.

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  25. Thank you, everyone. Your visits and comments make my day.

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  26. Funny, a friend and I were just discussing the issues of sibling rivalry last night at dinner ... and also how some parent fuel it ... Nicely done as always, Patti. Know I will find good reads when I come here. Hooray!

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  27. Um... because women are better drivers?

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Thoughts? I would love to hear from you.