Everyone has that one person in their life they don’t give the proper amount of credit to. For me, it’s my younger brother Jacob. Without him, I truly have no idea where I would be in life or who my friends would be. Jacob is without a doubt one of the most unique, people you will ever get to meet. His smile is goofy, his attitude is positive, and he can always make you laugh even when you don’t feel like it.

I always say that Jacob was the worst birthday gift I ever received. That’s because at 3 years old, you want to be the center of attention. Unfortunately, at my 3rd birthday party, Jacob was due to be born within the next 2 weeks so I wasn’t completely the center of attention. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was a hell of a birthday present when he arrived just 10 days later. The reason I call him the worst is because, like normal siblings, we are constantly fighting. Unlike normal siblings, we fight every chance we get. Some days he makes me hate everything about him while other days, it’s the complete opposite. I guess that is what siblings are for.

Fighting isn’t the only thing siblings are for, though. In my case, my brother is the one that keeps me crazy. Everyone needs a little spark of insanity once in awhile to keep them going. That spark is consistent in my house and its name is Jacob. The best way I can capture the absurdity that is Jacob is by telling a short story about my brother. Four years ago he had to get a (benign) tumor removed from his humorous. Now, any normal 12-year-old would be freaking out about having a tumor or even a surgery. Jacob was far from a normal 12-year-old. He knew tumors were growths, so he would always say, “It’s grown on me” and he wasn’t wrong. He also named his tumor. He was afraid once they removed “Timmy” he would “lose his sense of humorous.” Needless to say, he was far from a normal 12-year-old, but still a very comical one.

My brother is completely different than I am. He doesn’t get scared by much, as you can tell by the tumor story. He also is one of those people where you really can’t hate him for long, only because he will do something stupid or strange and you will be so curious as to why, you will forget why you are mad at him. Jacob bought a hazmat suit, with gloves and goggles off of Amazon. My mom was notably confused, as was I. Before this, though, Jacob and I had fought, like usual, maybe 2 hours before the package came in. I was ready to kill him (figuratively of course) until I saw him put on his hazmat suit, where he looked almost like "the Pillsbury Doughboy," as my mom affectionately said. I couldn’t help but laugh and laugh because, in the end, he is my brother and I honestly couldn’t stay too mad at him. Besides, how can you not laugh at someone who looks like that?

As I said before, I don’t give him enough credit and I truly don’t. So maybe this article will help him realize I actually do care about him despite us fighting 24/7. But without a doubt, my brother has helped me get back on my feet more times than I can count, whether he or anyone else realizes it or not. So, while I may call him the worst birthday gift ever, I have to admit, he is one of the best gifts anyone could possibly receive. If you ever have the pleasure of just talking to Jacob once, you will understand how special of a person he is, as well as being able to see how much he can make a person laugh, just by being himself. I truly treasure my brother, even though it never seems like it. If you have a brother or a person like Jacob in your life, make sure you keep them in your life, they will help you get through a lot. As much as I say I hate him, I really do love my brother.