Sibs

One is 14, the other nearly 12. They can raise the roof with their bickering. It doesn’t take much. One comment. A rolled eye. Breathing. But no matter how much they fight, there is a bond. Luc goes out of his way to do things for his sister when she is need. For all his mouthy grandstanding, when he serves Jordan he is genuine and reserved. Though in normal times he is prone to condescend to her, when she is in the midst of her fight against the disease he possesses the rarest ability to treat her with utmost respect and a simple good nature.
She will tell you that her brother is her greatest annoyance. Anything that’s amiss is Luc’s fault. But when she is hurting or feeling vulnerable he is the first one she asks about. She looks up to him. She’ll never let on that this is so, but it is clear to anyone who watches them.
I spend a lot of time chronicling Jordan’s steps on this blog, but she makes so many of those steps holding her brother’s hand. He’s been willing to carry her on his back many times, too. When I think far ahead, into a cancer-free future, I see two strong children. She will live her life knowing what she has beaten. I imagine he will live his with a perspective that few of us can imagine–as the healthy one, the role model, and the one who sometimes gets lost in the shadows of a survivor. He is a survivor. It takes courage and character to press on the way he does–to be a source of support while growing up. He has no idea how much of a role he plays in Jordan’s life, or in mine, and I thank every star every day that he travels with us on this path. Jordan will thank him one day, too. For now, she’s content to scold him every chance she gets.