By Heather Tran
“You’re a middle child? That must suck.”
After mentioning my older brother and younger sister, most people jump to conclusions and assume the typical middle child stereotype: forgotten, irrelevant, and unloved. Life as a middle child couldn’t be more different. In fact, it’s the best of both worlds. Sweatpants from my sister and t-shirts from my brother. Girl talk with Emma and advice from Nathan. The aux queue consists of Kendrick and K-Pop. Forever and always, I find myself in the middle.
Teenagers often push away their families with the fear of being uncool and lame, but my siblings and I have done it all. From trips to Hawaii to surviving club soccer with the same evil coach, we have been through thick and thin. There’s a certain bond that exists within my siblings that can never be replicated anywhere else. No two people in the world have gone through the same experiences that I have and have developed such complete knowledge of my character. I will admit, I used to get annoyed at the usual questions: “There’s another one of you?”, “That’s really your brother?” But I can spare a few exasperated lines of dialogue for the relationship I have with my siblings.
With my brother away at college I am able to reflect on my first year without him in the house. One thing is for sure. I strive to take full advantage of this last year with my younger sister and remind her of one thing — stay in touch.
