10 Nostalgic Sibling Stories That Remind Us Why Family Matters

Growing up with siblings means collecting little memories that never fade. These stories will make you smile, tear up, and maybe text your brother or sister after reading.

• My brother would pay for my plane ticket to his house if I ever even said I was unhappy and needed an impromptu vacation. My parents would fly me to their house if I told them the same thing. Both of them would just reassure me that if I got fired because of the trip, that’s not as important as my mental wellbeing.
  Which is awesome because I get anxiety every day (I can deal with that), I get panic attacks frequently (I can kind of deal with that), but the bad ones... sometimes I’ve been known to book a flight to my Brother’s city or my Parents’ city and just text them when I’m at my home airport and say, “Hey I’m coming in a few hours, can you pick me up or should I Uber/Lyft?” © IONTOP / Reddit

• My 9-year-old loves and excels at math and knows it is the subject that my 6-year-old struggles with. So lately, he has been giving her ‘quizzes’ that he says are pretty hard and stuff he is doing in his class, but are really super easy questions that are at or below her grade level.
  But her confidence soars when she can actually do them, and she is so much more open to his help because he preaches how he knows these are too hard for her grade level anyway (which they aren’t). It is so adorable and I love them! © mrdannyg21 / Reddit

• Sitting on the stairs together while our parents screamed at each other, my sister’s arm around me. I was younger and didn’t fully understand what was happening, but I knew my sister did, and I was so glad I had her, and she had me, rather than one of us experiencing this alone. © Usidore_ / Reddit

• My little sister and I are only two years apart and are incredibly close. She treats me like I’m the perfect human ever, and I try my best to live up to it.
  One time she asked me to throw the Frisbee with her outside, but I said I didn’t want to because the yard was full of those white clovers which attract a lot of bees, and I didn’t want to step on a bee (we both always prefer to be barefoot outdoors).
  She comes back an hour or two later and asks me to play Frisbee again. I remind her that we can’t because of the clovers. She tells me there aren’t any clovers, and when I step outside, it becomes apparent to me that she picked every single clover in the whole yard. There were hundreds of them, thousands, maybe.
  So I brought out a boom box, and we danced around in the grass and threw the Frisbee for hours. She’s the greatest person I’ve ever met. © Vanerac / Reddit

• I was 4 months pregnant and puked all over the inside of my car. I was crying so hard and covered in gross, and my 15-year-old brother went outside and cleaned it up for me without me asking. I loved that kid. © lizbithornswoggle / Reddit

• My little sister and I always argued growing up. I grew up faster than I should have had to, and I was “mom” more than I was “sister”. This plus the fact we’re seven years apart caused a ton of issues in our lives.
  But when I was about 15 or so (she was around 8) I had spent the night at a friend’s house and ended up getting picked up and taken home at 3am because I had gotten a concussion. Before we headed to the ER, my sister handed me a McDonald’s toy that she had gotten from her happy meal at dinner that night and told me to keep it.
  It was an ordinary McDonald’s toy, but she wanted me to have it just because I didn’t feel well. From an 8-year-old, that means a lot. © littlegrowingbear / Reddit

• My younger sister once wanted to do some chores around the house to earn some money so she could go to the movies with her friends. While she was at school one day, I did ALL of them. For FREE. The look on her face when she got home was worth it. © CplThemo / Reddit

• I’m adopted and never really felt like I was truly a part of my adopted family. My bro and I were close, but in my opinion, close like homeboys close.
  Anyway, I went to see my girl late one night and left her house around 2 in the morning. The tire went flat, and I’m stranded on the side of the road. Anyway, I texted him just letting him know I’ll figure it out, but he woke up mom and dad (I wasn’t comfortable enough to calm them down about issues yet), and they all got in the car at 2 am and picked me up 30 minutes away.
  I tell him “thanks man” and he responds “no problem bro, I love you man,” real light-hearted as if he was happy he was able to help, and I wasn’t being a nuisance. I’ll never forget that. © Baby_Driver_2007 / Reddit

• My mom had this set of 3 glass candleholders that she ADORED. My brother and I were playing soccer in the house while we were home alone (we couldn’t play outside since no parents were home, we really were following the rules) and one of us kicked the ball directly into them, splitting one right down the middle.
  We rearranged them in a way that it wasn’t obvious and set it up so that the one that broke didn’t look broken, and one of us did the dusting every week so she wouldn’t find out. The ruse lasted 8 years until we were both away for the weekend and mom dusted and thought that she broke it. We’ll never tell. © jayrambling / Reddit

• My 13yo sister was scrolling through her phone when I heard her cry. She said, "I saw a post where my 2 close classmates hung out without me."
  The next morning, upset, I entered her class halfway through, excused myself, and, in front of everyone, I waved the Disneyland tickets and said, "Your true best friends planned a big surprise. Today, you’re going to Disneyland with them!" Tears of happiness streamed down her face as she was utterly surprised.
  I later explained to the teacher that I was just too excited to wait, which is why I announced it in front of everyone. She laughed and wished us a great day.

Behind every nostalgic childhood moment, there’s a parent who made it possible. Discover 10 heartfelt stories that uncover the sacrifices we rarely notice.