Featuring children’s own words and heart-warming pictures, this book is the perfect gift for a brother, or for children expecting a new sibling.

Reproduction of the original: Love of Brothers by Katherine Tynan

"The next best thing to not having a brother (as I do not) is to have Brothers." —Gay Talese Here is a tapestry of stories about the complex and unique relationship that exists between brothers. In this book, some of our finest authors take an unvarnished look at how brothers admire and admonish, revere and revile, connect and compete, love and war with each other. With hearts and minds wide open, and, in some cases, with laugh-out-loud humor, the writers tackle a topic that is as old as the Bible and yet has been, heretofore, overlooked. Contributors range in age from twenty-four to eighty-four, and their stories from comic to tragic. Brothers examines and explores the experiences of love and loyalty and loss, of altruism and anger, of competition and compassion—the confluence of things that conspire to form the unique nature of what it is to be and to have a brother. “Brother.” One of our eternal and quintessential terms of endearment. Tobias Wolff writes, “The good luck of having a brother is partly the luck of having stories to tell.” David Kaczynski, brother of “The Unabomber”: “I’ll start with the premise that a brother shows you who you are—and also who you are not. He’s an image of the self, at one remove . . . You are a ‘we’ with your brother before you are a ‘we’ with any other.” Mikal Gilmore refers to brotherhood as a “fidelity born of blood.” We’ve heard that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But where do the apples fall in relation to each other? And are we, in fact, our brothers’ keepers, after all? These stories address those questions and more, and are, like the relationships, full of intimacy and pain, joy and rage, burdens and blessings, humor and humanity.

Ones role models in life are often found in the unexpected. The person who is our confidant and hero, or role model, may well be a teacher, parent, sibling, or friend who is appreciated too late. For me, my role model was my brother, Andy, who died too soon, at the age of twentyone. Unexpected? Yes. Andys story and my own as it unfolds will tell the tale of two brothers who were each others best friend. We had a childhood filled with love, joy, laughter, and sadness. Unfortunately for me, I was so busy being my brothers keeper that I never realized the phenomenal human being my brother, Andy, had become. It took Andys death for me to realize the role model I had lost. Death stole my chance ever to say thank you while Andy was alive. This memoir shares the emotions of a brothers love. Each of my lifes accomplishments has in some way been shaped by my brothers life and the way he lived it. Born with a cloud over his head, Andy struggled to learn and to fit in. Born with a rainbow in his heart, Andy would love and be loved in a way that I finally came to understand too late. This memoir is my gift of gratitude to my hero and role model. May it inspire those who read it to express their appreciation to those people who have made them into who they are today. In my case, it is my brother, who I loved more than I ever knew. A Brothers Love is Andys story and mine; it is a love story for all ages. Author's note:Please visit www.abrothersloverun.org for more information on Andy's Charities and my upcoming charity run!