My brother and I were born 16 years apart. We had different childhoods, but we've realized we have a lot in common.

Tue, 10/01/2024 - 05:47

Nia Springer-Norris with her brother, Winston, sitting at a restaurant. — Nia Springer-Norris and her brother Winston are 16 years apart in age.
Courtesy of Nia Springer-Norris

My brother is 16 years younger than I am, and we rarely lived in the same place
He had a very different childhood than I did, and we had different parents.
But over the years, we've realized we have a lot in common.

At 13, Winston was already taller than me. I found this out at my wedding — my younger brother was, in fact, taller than my husband. At that point, we hadn't seen each other since four years prior, when our grandmother brought him to visit me in Asheville, North Carolina.