I have a little brother, a younger brother, and although we’ve been through tough times, my love for him has only increased over the years. We even went through a period of four years without talking to each other and that was very painful. I have often looked back at those days and thought it was kid stuff, however, now I know it was more complex than that.

I cannot turn back time and change the fact that he was the only male in the house, and us girls got most of the attention being as we were extremely difficult teens, which obviously took a lot away from him. The river does run deep, and it is now, as an adult that I can understand where he always came from.

He looks tough and comes out as not so caring or loving, but he is. He is flawed like I am and possibly difficult to read, but no matter what, he has always helped me in his own way. Especially my dearest grandmother to whom he is devoted to. Watching him care for her shows me how he is capable of loving deeply.

When we speak on the phone now, and I end the conversation with “Te quiero mucho,”  I can tell he feels uncomfortable and will never say it back. But, I don’t need him to tell me because I know he does love me in his own way and that’s good enough for me. Sometimes, words need not be said to be felt.