Sweet & sour siblings

I don't watch TV all that much, but there's one show among several that I do like: Brothers & Sisters. Thank heavens it's back (just as Heroes will be back within the year, woo hoo!).

In a nutshell, Brothers & Sisters is about family relationships: the dynamics among brothers and sisters and their mother and their significant others and half-sister(?) - family. It's mostly drama with a few good laughs thrown in. I'm enjoying it immensely.

I have an older sister and an older brother and a younger brother. All of them live abroad with their families, except for the younger brother, who's away most of the time anyway since he works as a junior purser on a cruise ship in either Europe or the Caribbean.

If you watch Brothers & Sisters, you'll notice that every time the family meets for dinner the evening inevitably ends up in a shouting match. There's no doubt that the family members love each other dearly, but man, they almost rip each others' throats out in these shouting matches. As adults, there were moments when the siblings and I don't see eye to eye on certain things. But it never got to the point that there would be a verbal free-for-all. I do have friends who engage in such, um, lively conversations with their families. After the initial apprehension, such conversations became fun to watch.

My siblings and I have had our share of disagreements - verbal and physical - when we were kids. The younger brother, especially, always threw a mean punch that was always aimed at me. He and I fought like cats and dogs when we were younger, but he and I were closest to each other. We still are. Whenever he's home we go out for a few drinks and kid around. Most importantly, we talk and listen to each other. I have great memories of my older sister and brother when we were kids and before they moved away, but it's the younger brother who somehow gets me the most (and vice-versa). I'd call him my doppelganger, except that I'm way prettier. And that I can outdrink him - but only when Heineken is involved. Otherwise he's the better drinker, hands down.

Don't you wonder how earlier generations were more prolific when it came to childbearing? My mom had seven siblings; my dad had eight. I have just three (siblings and children), but on certain days it seems like I have three dozen. But I'm not complaining. Well, just sometimes. But not much.

(We were supposed to have four more siblings, but they were either stillborn or died shortly after birth.)

But back to Brothers & Sisters. I would totally love to adopt Kevin and Justin into my household. Not for sexual purposes, you perverts. Kevin (the gay guy), because he's so lovable even if he's neurotic and uptight. Justin, because he is so vulnerable and has doe eyes and a perpetual five o'clock shadow. And because both of them are such an adorable, pathetic mess when they're drunk.

Just like me...if you hold the adorable.