I had an older sister and a brother. There was a three-year age gap between me and my sister, and a four-year age gap between me and my younger brother. Since we had all lived together in a small house since we were very young, I knew each of their personalities very well.
When my sister reached a certain age, she would bring her boyfriends home and introduce them to me. I think she knew I was a cautious person. After we met, she would ask for my opinion. And I, too, didn't hold back, saying things like, "He's all show and no substance."
My younger brother, who is four years younger than me, was very independent and rarely hung out and played with me, and of course, he didn't play with my older sister. He was the best at video games when we played as a family. Perhaps because I excelled in both academics and sports, my brother was the same. While I practiced kendo, he played basketball. He used to say, "Your high school is the Slam Dunk."
My sister, at some point, started listening to Julie London LPs on the wood-grain stereo my father had acquired. I listened to "Love Letter" too and thought it was lovely. My younger brother went on a trip around Europe when he was a collage student and came back with a British girl. I also went to university far from my home town and I met someone there and married her.
My sister, brother and I each had two children, and are living in the north and south of Japan and abroad, they would see each other occasionally and visit each other. Nowour children're all adults, left home and all married.
My father's health deteriorated, and he passed away after a four or five-year battle with illness. My mother lived to be nearly 100 before she died. My sister's husband passed away, my brother and his wife have become so overweight they're unrecognizable, and I've fallen ill, and we're saying, "It's finally our turn."