3. We know one another's faults, virtues, catastrophes,
mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, desires, and how
long we can each hang by our hands to a bar. We have
been banded together under pack codes and tribal
laws.
5. To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to
brothers and sisters. We know each other as we
always were. We know each other's hearts. We share
private family jokes. We remember family feuds and
secrets, family grieves and joys. We live outside the
touch of time.
9. Sibling relationships - and 80 percent of Americans
have at least one - outlast marriages, survive the
death of parents, resurface after quarrels that
would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand
incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth,
loyalty and distrust.