My brother just sent me an audiobook…. I say audiobook, I’m exaggerating a bit, it was a very long voice note.
I’m not sure where I stand with voice notes, they are like answerphone messages without the missed call, but usually from people you want to speak to… I used to hate answerphone messages, I just used to delete them, if it’s important, they’ll call back… He used to leave me long answer phone messages too… I’m waffling, get to the point!!
He sent me a 7 minute long voice note which was in response to my blog which he had read that morning. He was worried about me and telling me to chill and to take my own advice and “F**K um…”
But more importantly he reminded me that I am not alone and he’s got my back!
My brother and his wife have had a tough run of it. They’re raising four children, each with their own challenges and personalities. Their eldest son has a serious medical condition which requires a huge amount of care and takes up much of their time and energy. Their eldest daughter has now flown the nest and is carving out her own path as a real trailblazer. My sister-in-law spends her days navigating the complexities of home schooling after the education system failed their youngest son, while their youngest daughter is wonderfully wild in the way only a six-year-old should be.
So you can imagine I would usually think twice before I go to him to unload my comparatively trivial problems of project deadlines and financial burdens to him.
But as he would say: “problems are problems no matter how big or how small”
It got me thinking because how many people don’t express how they are feeling because they think it isn’t worth talking about?
I imagine it to be quite a few, and I’m probably one of them.
I’m lucky to have a brother like I do. No matter how shit his life is he will still take the time to reach out and check in on me.
I’d go as far as saying I don’t deserve him, because I can get so caught up in my own world I forget to reach out too.
So this is a reminder to myself as much as anyone else.
Message your brother.
Call your sister.
Someone you care about might need reminding they’re not carrying it all on their own.
Take it easy
TM.
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