Brothers

 I was watching the boys play one-on-one basketball this evening, and it got me thinking about brothers.

My sons are 16 and 14, respectively. They've been brothers their whole lives, yet you never would have known it. They fought nearly every day. They scrapped, they wrestled, they pushed, they shoved. They battled all the time.

Witnessing their daily pitched encounters, trying to adjudicate each and every confrontation, was revelatory to some degree but mostly wearisome. I always felt like the judge who never made the right decision.

The older one, Nathaniel, has enjoyed the upper hand most of the time, a product of being two years older than Isaiah and the physical advantages that come with that. I often have told them, especially after some bruising conquest that left his brother in tears, how he needs to recognize his younger brother will be one of his best friends. He is blood, after all, I'd say, and that bond means everything.

I will admit this was lecturing with helping of hope. I mean, I can't guarantee they will be close. Many brothers -- and siblings in general -- aren't. But while aspirational, it seemed like the right message, the wise seed to plant in their minds. 

Now, as the two have gotten older, the daily, petty jousting has lessened. They share some common interests, and even share some common friends. Isaiah frequently hangs out with Nathaniel and his friends, playing games at our house, playing basketball or lifting at the gym. His older brother not onky has no reservations about it, he basically welcomes it.

And they do more things together. They went to a water park together (with other friends. too). They play soccer together. They play basketball together. They play video games together. They will congregate in one or the other's room on some evenings. Whereas once there was acrimony, now mostly there is harmony.

That said, you wouldn't have concluded that watching them juke, joust and trash talk each other playing ball on our street this evening. You would have seen two brothers in each's faces, fighting, clawing, competing to best the other.

But once the game was over, peace prevailed again. Harmony restored. You can feel the mutual respect, maybe even a twinge of admiration each has for the other.

It's a joy to watch them grow up -- together.