Todd’s Take: Happy National Siblings Day, Justin & Bonnie!

Back in 1995, April 10 was deemed National Siblings Day. Like Mother's and Father's Day, Siblings Day is set aside to celebrate our brothers and/or sisters. NationalDayCalendar.com puts it best: "They are sometimes our best friends or our worst enemies. At times, siblings will provide us with our biggest competition, strongest encouragement and remind us of our most embarrassing moments."

For me, those words perfectly describe the relationships I have with my brother, Justin, and my sister, Bonnie.

"There's no other love like the love for a brother. There's no other love like the love from a brother." — Terri Guillemets
Justin and I are about 20 months apart in age but he was just a grade behind me in school. As youngsters, my mom used to dress us alike and we shared a bedroom until I turned 13. Of course there was a sibling rivalry growing up that lead to many a fistfight (Ground rules: no face or nut shots!) As we got older and Justin moved out of Yakima to the west side of Washington, we realized how much we relied on each other then, and even more so now. We've had season tickets to the Seahawks for years and years and it is always a great built-in excuse to just hang with my bro like old times.

"To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." — Clara Ortega
My sister, Bonnie Leigh, was born much, much later. In fact, I'm 10 years older than her. Because of the age gap, my brother and I were VERY protective of her when she was a baby. Looking back, it gave me an introduction to being a parent myself. She has since grown in to a great mother to her three kids of her own and still lives in the valley so I get to see her much more frequently.

To my brother and sister whom I dearly love, Happy National Siblings Day!