Siblings, selfishness, and scars

I have three siblings: a sister and two brothers, in that order. They were all born after me. Which means they, from their moment of conception, were a sibling. I have been something that they will never be: an only child.

Granted, I was only an only child for two years, the entirety of which I do not remember. But still.

So I like to think that during those two crucial, formative years, I developed something similar to "only child syndrome."

I'm sad to say that I'm a selfish person. I'm never (I should say rarely) deliberately mean, but sometimes I get consumed with myself. I married someone almost entirely selfless. It had to be that way, otherwise my marriage would never have lasted.

Sometimes in my self-consumption (are we calling it that?), I throw tantrums and only think about what I want RIGHT NOW, and think less about who it might affect or how much...ahem...money it might cost. Anyway, I'm quite proud to say that my siblings, who have always been siblings (unlike me), are very selfless people. They're sensitive to other people's feelings, they're happy, friendly people, and they always make an effort to make someone's day better.

Especially this one.



See that scar below her lip? I did that. As a teenager, we were in a car accident and I was driving. The collision's force caused her to bite through her lip. I consider myself lucky that the only thing that happened to her was that, but I also feel a tinge of guilt every time I think about it. If I had been more careful and less selfish and thoughtless, she wouldn't have that scar.

To further my point, she's not even mad about the scar. In fact, she says she likes it. How's that for a selfless sibling?