Contrast Essay

     My brother and I are complete opposites. Besides Sharing our brown hair, brown eyes, and our last name we have nothing in common. Although I love my brother very deeply I cannot think of a single time in my life we have agreed on something. My brother is four years older than me, and I am the baby of the family. From the time we were able to communicate with one another it has been a constant argument. It was always something. Who was going to sit in the blue recliner, who was going to pick what we watched on TV, who got the last string cheese, or who got to sit in the front seat of the car. I have a very different outlook on life than my brother does. I have goals in life that I work hard to reach everyday. My brother finds odd jobs to pay his bills, and lives his life one day at a time. I was considered the good child, he was the not so good child who made bad choices. He is very loud and in your face, and I am more soft spoken and kind.
     The first difference between my brother and I is that I have goals in life and he does not. When I graduated from high school I didn't go directly to college. I knew that I wanted and needed to go to be successful in life. I just wasn't sure what to go for yet. After a year and a half I made the decision and here I am on my way. My brother on the other hand dropped out of high school his junior year. He said he was going to get his GED. Buying the book and flipping through it a few times was as far as he went with that. I got my second job the week after I graduated. I knew that if I wasn't going to school right away I needed to be working. I have worked hard for everything I have. For the past two years I have been living on my own supporting myself. My brother still lives with my mother. He never keeps a steady job. He usually does small odd job, just enough to get him by. He has no desire to make anything of his life just to get by the easy way.
     The second difference between my brother and I is that I was the good child growing up, and he was the not so good child. My parents were very fair and always treated us equally, but I was less of a hassle. Speeding tickets, fines, and notices from teachers were always flooding the mailbox at my parents house. All of which belonged to my brother. Perfect attendance, good grade awards, and photographs from various school activities cluttered up the front of the fridge. All of which belonged to me. My brother would always stay out late and never respected my parents rules. So they just assumed he was getting in to some kind of trouble. I was always checking in with the parents letting them when I was going to be home, what time, and who I was with. Obviously this led my parents to have much more trust for me than my brother. I'm not saying that I was a perfect child but I was much easier for my parents to deal with than my brother was.
     The third difference between my brother and I is that he is very loud and in your face. I'm more soft spoken and kind hearted. My brother will be the first to tell you just what he thinks about you. He really doesn't sugarcoat much. He also has a booming voice that is easily heard across the room. Whether he's yelling or just carrying on a normal conversation everyone hears it. I have a very soft voice and am pretty quite until I get to know someone. I'm not at all judgemental and can befriend almost anyone. I've always had a big heart. I am very sympathetic for others and their problems. I have never seen my brother cry once. He sat at my side at my uncle's funeral. Not one tear ever fell from his eye. I cried my eyes out the entire time. I cried for weeks whenever we lost a family pet. He acted like it never bothered him. He definitely never lets his emotions show and I wear my mine on my sleeve.
     My brother and I still often don't see eye to eye, but when it comes down to it we're still there for one another. My parents recently have gotten a divorce. This came as a huge shock to my brother and me. Its been a struggle that we both share so we have been able to overcome our differences to help each other through the transition. Looking back at all the screaming, fighting and name calling I kind of feel bad. I know that's how brothers and sisters treat each other a lot of the times, but that's something I can't take back. I think I have matured a lot lately. I realize that my brother's life is something that I can't control, and I need to let it go. I need to let him make his own decisions. My parents have always told me that he was the only brother I will ever have and now that's sinking in. We're only here for a short time. As many times I have told him I hate him, I don't actually at all. It's time to put our differences aside and grow up!