My siblings saved my life

This is the most beautiful and the worst thing I have ever heard. It’s both a compliment and a death sentence in the same phrase. It all depends on how you relate to it and I’m still trying to work that out for myself.<br><br>It was my brother who called me, late at night; the most worrying time to get a call at but I am used to those calls, it’s not uncommon and I know what that means ... he has always come to my rescue in the same way that I have gone to his. It’s just something we have learned to do for each other since we were kids but it wasn’t always like that.<br><br>In the beginning I didn’t even want to have siblings, I wanted to be an only child, so I could have my parents all to myself and they could give me all the attention I needed. I was a very lonely and needy kid and it got even worse when I was 9 years old and I met my first love, my sister who was two years younger than me.<br><br>I was jealous in the beginning, even though she didn’t steal my parents’ attention right away. It took months for them to pay attention to her and I was so angry at myself when I finally realized she was a human being as well, not just some kind of pet that could be ignored at times. My parents did everything for me and my brother did everything for my sister and me (he is two years older than me). He played with her and I would sit and watch them but they were so happy when he played with her, even though he would hit her sometimes and push her around. I don’t know how I didn’t feel the same way towards her. I was so jealous and I think that was mostly because I saw how much fun they had and I could have easily been a part of it but my emotions wouldn’t let me. But my parents were very nice to me and I should have been grateful but I wasn’t. I was so selfish and I think that’s what bothered my brother the most. <br><br>Siblings are a special thing and I think my brother and I knew that from the beginning and we could relate to each other in a way that no one else could. We would lie in bed together at night and talk for hours about everything. I would tell him how jealous I was of my sister and how I wished I could connect with her the same way but I couldn’t. He told me he felt the same way about me and even though I didn’t want to relate to him about that, I was happy to hear that he would share that with me. But the jealousy soon faded away for both of us and we all started playing together, he was even very nice to me at times and I think that was because he was very nice to my sister and he could see how happy it made her.<br><br>I could go on forever about how nice my sister and brother have been to me but the point of this story is to tell you how they saved my life. I didn’t know it at the time but I was in a very toxic relationship. My boyfriend was very nice to me, it confused me to the point where I didn’t even know what abuse was anymore. He would criticize everything but he would make me sandwiches and would go to the beach with me so he couldn’t be that bad, right? But he was. He was very bad and I didn’t even realize it until I was gone.<br><br>I didn’t want to tell anyone because I was ashamed and I didn’t want anyone to find out, at least not immediately. But I had to tell someone and I couldn’t trust anyone but my siblings. I called my sister first. I was so scared and I could feel my body trembling as I told her everything. I felt so vulnerable; even though she was on the phone and I couldn’t see her I just felt her eyes on me, watching me, judging me. I was so ashamed. But she didn’t judge me, she comforted me. She told me she loved me and that she knew I was a strong woman who could go through anything. I don’t know how but she made me believe it and I knew at that moment I could get out of there, I would be okay.<br><br>But then I told my brother and he was very different. He was so angry and he wanted to do something about it, even though he lives on the other side of the world. I told him it was too late, that I was already gone but it didn’t matter. He would still go and fight for me, to protect me. It made me feel so safe. I don’t even know how to explain it, I just felt safe. In my whole life I had never felt the way I did that day. I felt like I was home, like I was in the right place and nothing could ever go wrong again.<br><br>I don’t know how to explain it, I can’t put it into words but my siblings saved my life. I know I didn’t fully get out of it and I’m still dealing with a lot of things but they saved me, they set me free.