I caught a lucky break.
To have ended up with Kelvin as my brother.
If it wasn't for him, I most likely would have been an utter nerd. As it was, I basked a bit in the "cool" afterglow he gave out.
I had no idea when it happened, of course. One day we were stealing fruits on our way back from Sunday School ...and suddenly when I lifted my nose out of a book - there he was, utterly cool.
Because of him I got to know and love reggae and rock and blues (although I never quite took to Heavy Metal). And tried to take it in my stride when all the cool boys in school stared at me in total and utter disbelief that I could possibly be Noel's sister. At school we moved in different circles, back home we watched Grease a hundred times together.
It all came back to me again when I was at his place over Chinese New Year and we were watching the Grammys together. Tina Turner and Beyonce came out and sang "Proud Mary" together. And my brother sang along with them. WORD PERFECT
That was another thing. I aced the music exams, he had the musical ability. Picking out tunes on my piano. Knowing all the words to a song after listening to it once or twice. I could never remember lyrics. When I heard a song, I only heard the music. Lyrics were meaningless gibberish to me. Only certain words in certain songs came through . Most of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs, some of Alanis Morrisette p'raps.
After Beyonce and Tina were done. He turned to me and started talking about the song. Who sang it originally etc. Then he talked about the boat "Proud Mary" and the river on which it "rolled". I was back to being a child again. Listening to him talk about Bob Marley and his music. Eyes aglow with newfound knowledge but mostly with complete adoration for the coolest brother that every lived.
To have ended up with Kelvin as my brother.
If it wasn't for him, I most likely would have been an utter nerd. As it was, I basked a bit in the "cool" afterglow he gave out.
I had no idea when it happened, of course. One day we were stealing fruits on our way back from Sunday School ...and suddenly when I lifted my nose out of a book - there he was, utterly cool.
Because of him I got to know and love reggae and rock and blues (although I never quite took to Heavy Metal). And tried to take it in my stride when all the cool boys in school stared at me in total and utter disbelief that I could possibly be Noel's sister. At school we moved in different circles, back home we watched Grease a hundred times together.
It all came back to me again when I was at his place over Chinese New Year and we were watching the Grammys together. Tina Turner and Beyonce came out and sang "Proud Mary" together. And my brother sang along with them. WORD PERFECT
That was another thing. I aced the music exams, he had the musical ability. Picking out tunes on my piano. Knowing all the words to a song after listening to it once or twice. I could never remember lyrics. When I heard a song, I only heard the music. Lyrics were meaningless gibberish to me. Only certain words in certain songs came through . Most of Andrew Lloyd Webber's songs, some of Alanis Morrisette p'raps.
After Beyonce and Tina were done. He turned to me and started talking about the song. Who sang it originally etc. Then he talked about the boat "Proud Mary" and the river on which it "rolled". I was back to being a child again. Listening to him talk about Bob Marley and his music. Eyes aglow with newfound knowledge but mostly with complete adoration for the coolest brother that every lived.
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