“Y’ello?… Hello?… What?… Mate, I can’t hear you… Can you speak up?… Look, you’re just gonna have to leave me a message.”
BEEP.
This is how many of my conversations with my brother go. I call his phone, he ‘answers’, I wait, knowing what’s coming next (or occasionally still getting sucked into the I-can’t-hear-you LOUDER thing), and then the phone beeps.
And I remember he’s a cheeky sod with an even cheekier voicemail message.
In many ways, my brother and I are as different as it’s possible for two people to be. And in many ways – the most important ways – we are so similar that there’s no denying that we are blood relations.
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| An oldie but a goodie – a shot with my mum and brother from 2010. (And Ashleigh has sneaked into this pic too – 22 weeks along.) |
We are incredibly close. We don’t talk often – once a fortnight, if that – but that’s not my definition of close. Close means I can tell him anything. Close means I can talk to him for hours on end without realising that hours, not minutes, have passed. Close means I can sit in silence with him for hours on end without realising that hours, not minutes, have passed.
Close means I can say one word to evoke a shared memory, and he can nod his understanding, and a whole conversation has been carried out.
Close means that, while I don’t know what he’s doing right this moment, I’m sure he’d drop it in a second if I needed him.
I called my brother earlier this week to check if he was okay with me writing a blog post about him. “Yeah, that’s cool. Just don’t use my name. Or say anything embarrassing.”
He then proceeded to tell me that he was going to change his voicemail message. Because recently, when he lost his phone, he called it. He was worried it had been stolen from his car, and was mortified when someone answered.
Y’ello?
Hello? Who is this? Who’s got my phone?
Hello?
You cheeky little shit! I want my phone back!
What?
You heard me! I want my phone back!
Mate, I can’t hear you.
I’m not your mate, I’m… hang on…
Can you speak up?
(Silence) DAMMIT.
Look, you’re just gonna have to leave me a message.
BEEP.
How do conversations with your sibling(s) typically go?
Linking with the delightful Josefa at Always Josefa for Conversations over Coffee (or in my case, a hot chocolate).
That message is very funny, but I could see how it can be annoying.
That is great you two get along so well.
SO ANNOYING!! I love that it got him, though!
Emily 🙂 What a great post. I absolutely love it. It sounds like you have an amazing relationship with your brother. I love that you can say one word and it brings back memories. I have that with my siblings too. I have a brother also, but he doesn’t want to be mentioned on my blog. I’m glad yours was cool with your story 🙂
Thanks, Renee. He was super cool. Even though I may have strayed from the ‘no embarrassing stories’ brief!
And here I am! Emily, ur the best sister a bloke could ask for! Love the blog, cheers 🙂 Loll
And yet you still haven’t changed your voicemail , Love from your ever loving (frustrated) wife xo
Back at you. And CHANGE YOUR VOICEMAIL! (Love you.)
Emily this made me laugh, brothers are an amazing and generally hilarious gift. I loved your definition of close too by the way because I define it the same way 🙂
Thank you! Much hilarity.
Oh I love this!! I love how you described hours not minutes go by in each others company, in so many different ways, and this is your definition of close. That voice mail message is crazy, perhaps it is a good thing he is changing it 😉 Thank you so much for linking up to #convocoffee Josefa
Thanks for hosting it, Josefa! I love the concept and will be back for anoher #convocoffee (hot chocolate) this month.
HA HA that is so funny Em – I used to have voicemail message like that at uni and it was GOLD! I hope my sons and daughter get on well as adults, I know so many of my friends who aren’t close to their brothers. What is your secret? Have a great weekend 🙂
Yes, another friend of mine had it at uni too. So I should know better, but I still get sucked in sometimes!
Our secret? Well, being honest I’d say it’s going through a tragedy together, so I don’t recommend it! But I’d like to think we’d be close anyway, so I’ll go with not taking ourselves or each other too seriously.
What a great relationship you have with your brother, Emily. I have two sisters and I’m not particularly close with either of them – but wish I was – something to work at maybe. How annoying about your brother’s phone!
Thanks, Leanne. I’ve seen seemingly unbreakable relationships turn sour, and I’ve seen people who haven’t talked for years become inseparable. Anything’s possible!
I just got off the phone to my sister, she calls me on her way home from work every Friday and I love it. We can talk about almost anything. I remember when she was younger though and when we lived together for a while, she was a downright annoying little thing, but now that we are older, we are so so close.
What a lovely Friday ritual! It’s funny how the age difference stops meaning as much – anything, in fact.
He’s funny! I’m going to go and change my answering machine message… x
Don’t do it. Please. I’m begging you!
lol, that’s hilarious.
When you’re not on the receiving end!
How funny! My convos with my sis are usually “on the run” so one of is is at the park with kids and the other is grocery shopping or something and honestly, nothing ever really makes sense! For the real info we both go to mum! Your brother sounds like a crack up! Katie from Mumabytes xo
Haha, yes, there’s a bit of that too. We might be close, but I’ll sometimes find out his latest news via mum. Or – quelle horreur! – facebook.
I love it! One of my friends at high school had a similar message on their home phone as her dad was a bit of a joker and I was always a bit scared of him so never knew whether to leave a message or not!
My brother is more of a practical joker, he rings up putting on elaborate voices and stories and he gets us every time. Recently he rang pretending to be an adult video store looking for overdue tapes and my poor mum was getting so flustered and embarrassed until she realised it was baby bro!
So your brother does his own version of ‘Gotcha’ calls? Ha! That examples is HILARIOUS! Haha!
LOL! I love the message! You are very lucky to have such a close relationship. Shelley from Money Mummy
Thanks Shelley. Yes, very lucky.
Hahaha! Love this message! A great post too. So awesome to have such a great relationship with your brother – love that he commented here too!!
I am close like this to one of my brothers. He is a big joker with a huge heart & has been there for me through thick & thin. Feel so lucky to have him – even when he drives me crazy with the practical jokes! 🙂
There’s something about those practical jokes, isn’t there? Even while you’re shaking your head at them, you’re laughing.
That’s a great message! I don’t talk to my brothers nearly enough. As a teenager, I never had time apart from them (raised my two youngest brothers and was best friends with the other) but now life is so busy. I know, there’s no excuse. Great post.
We had it all – in each other’s pockets for years, then two of five kids and hardly spent time together. But always close in the ways that mattered.
hahaha – got him a good one! I just love the relationship I have with my brothers and sis too – siblings really can be the best friends you can have.
Absolutely. They’ve always got your back!