Chapter Text
Name: Dustin Henderson
Date: 02/19/88
In this unit we are reading Little Women, a book in which a major theme is family. The story tells us about four sisters, all who are very different yet very close. Before reading, reflect on what having siblings means to you, and if you have no siblings, how would your life be different?
I’ve wanted a sibling my entire life.
All of my best friends have one or two. They would tell me it really wasn’t that great, and sometimes I’d understand that when I’d see them argue or tease each other- but other times I’d see them and all I could do is envy them because they were so close. They knew each other better than anyone, and whether they realized it now or not, they also had a built in best friend. And I was so jealous because I never had that.
Until Steve Harrington.
Yes, you read that right. Steve “The Hair” Harrington. Popular, a jock, and a C-average student while in high school. Known by everyone as “King Steve”. The opposite of myself.
Yet I am so incredibly proud to call him not only my best friend- but also my big brother.
You might ask- why is this only child calling another only child his brother? Well, I’ll tell you. Steve was dating the older sister of one of my best friends, and my cat was missing. In my search, I found Steve trying to bring flowers to his girlfriend (who had just dumped him. Poor guy), and in short, ended up forcing him to help me look.
We never found my cat (RIP Mews), but instead I found a brother.
In that short time, Steve had given me advice about girls, friends, and hair. All things an older sibling would give advice on, crazy enough. And through the entire conversation all I could do was think- is this what Mike and Will have had this entire time? I decided if it was, I wished even more for an older sibling.
In the end, I got one. Because Steve didn’t forget about me after we stopped our search, or after he and Nancy his girlfriend broke up. We went to the arcade, and the movies, and he even helped me get ready for and dropped me off at my first dance. He started picking me up and dropping me off to school during bad weather. And we talked. A ton. About everything. And I told him things I had never told anybody before. Like about my dad.
At the time, I had called him simply my best friend, but I made the realization of what our relationship really was this past year.
If you couldn’t tell by my attitude and appearance, it’s been an absolute shit show the worst 18 months of my life. During the insane earthquake we had last year, one of my friends died in an accident. I wasn’t myself at all after that, because I felt guilty, and I was angry, and I was grieving. All that bullshit. And I lashed out and pushed people away because I didn’t want to get them hurt. But Steve wouldn’t let me.
As you should know, since you taught him, Steve is incredibly fucking stubborn. So, he resisted the anger and distance when I was trying to hold myself together no matter how much I hurt him which I’ll always be guilty about, and he was also there to pick up the pieces when I finally let myself fall apart. And when we finally talked, we both realized that we really were brothers.
So to answer your question, what does having a sibling mean to me? I’d say it’s having a best friend for life. Except I got lucky and my best friend became my big brother.
It means having one person to feel safe with when you’re in a physical or mental place that scares you. It means finally feeling safe after a scary day when they hug you. It means having someone who can see all parts of you- even the mean, regretful parts. It means having someone who will stay up until two just talking or having someone to do separate things with- simply because you just enjoy each other’s company.
It means having someone who lets me be a kid. Because let’s face it- I’m really only 16. But with Steve, I’m able to cry, and make stupid jokes, and not always have to put the wall of maturity up. It means if I wake up crying after a nightmare, I get to have someone who will just hold me for a little bit. Someone who will let me be small and scared and will make sure by the end of it I don’t feel like that anymore.
It means being someone’s favorite person- and it feels amazing because they are yours too. It means no matter what you do, you’ll still love each other. Even through disagreements. Nothing you do or say can get in the way of that because at the end of the day, you love and care, more than anything, about the other person. You want to see them achieve their goals, do everything they ever wanted, and live their best life. Because they deserve it more than anything in the world.
So as someone who grew up as an only child, having an older brother feels like having everything I’ve ever wanted. But it’s even better this way, because we chose to be siblings. We ignored the bullshit stupid idea that family is only blood because frankly, it never has been.
And Steve, if you’re reading this- I love you so much. Thanks for being everything I’ve ever wanted.