This year, my older brother Nathan left me home alone, as he is now in his first year at college.

Way back in September, during the first few days he was gone, it was weird not having another sibling at home with me, a sibling I could say “hi” to at school or whom I could just lounge around with on the weekend. Though I still miss having Nathan home with me today, I’ve finally adjusted to living without my brother.

In my house, the door to my bedroom is opposite the door to my brother’s bedroom in the hallway. I hate to sound “corny,” but I remember when my brother was still living at home, always waking up on schooldays at about the same time as him and seeing him step out of his room just as I stepped out of mine. Now that he’s off at college, I step out of my room in the morning and see an empty room opposite me with a bed covered with untouched, unwrinkled bed sheets (a far cry from the sort of pigsty his room used to be).

When I come home from school, it’s always awfully quiet without another sibling right there with me. It is also almost torture to have to watch sports without my older brother there to help me convince my overly inquisitive dad to be quiet and just watch the game. Trust me, with my dad constantly exclaiming, “Wow, that was a risky move” or “He shouldn’t have done that” or “Wait, what just happened?” you’d get pretty annoyed too.

It gets awkward when my parents ask me about the latest gossip at school without my brother there to exercise his “oldest child powers” on them. By simply responding to the question with “nothing,” my brother could officially end the conversation. Now, I am forced to spill the events of my entire day to my parents when they ask me their questions; they won’t let me get away with saying nothing.

Now I do not mean to imply that I am completely lonely and depressed at home without my brother there. I have definitely adjusted during the five months that my brother has been gone, and I still see him during holidays and sometimes during long weekends. What I do mean to say is that, sometimes, it is just a little weird or different suddenly becoming an only child.

I know quite a few other students at Paly in the same situation as me, being the youngest child left at home while older siblings move on to college. Although getting used to the only child life after years and years of having a sibling at home with me took time, I have finally adjusted to this way of being.