Let's be real: Siblings can be a nuisance.
But every once in a while, you have a really sweet moment with them where you're reminded that they actually do care.
Reddit user updootgirl787 recently posed the question "What’s the most wholesome moment you’ve ever had with your brother/sister?" and guys, some of the responses literally made me tear up. Here are my favorites:
1. When this brother offered to help his sibling run away from their wedding:
"My brother was driving me to my wedding, and after being with my soon-to-be-husband for about 12 years, having had three kids together and not really being all that fussed about the whole shindig, I was pretty calm about the whole thing. I was quietly having a cigarette and thinking about something completely unrelated to the fact that I was getting married in half an hour, when he pulls up to the venue, turns and asks ‘Do you wanna go through with this?’
‘What?’
‘Do you wanna get married? 'Cause if not, say so now and I’ll have you at the airport before they even realize you’re running late.’
I’m still not sure whether I’m more touched by the fact that he let me smoke in his car or that he offered to help me do a runner on my wedding day."
2. These siblings transported right back to the 2000s together:
"All four of us were driving to Thanksgiving together when one of our favorite emo songs from the 2000s came on and, instinctively, we went full Step Brothers singing in the car scene."
3. When this very different sister came through during a tough time:
"My sister and I aren’t all that close, though I really wish we were. Our family is very Christian and she ended up pretty much the same as my parents. She’s 19 and doesn’t swear, drink, smoke, etc. I'm 20 and ended up being the opposite.
Not long ago, one of my best friends committed suicide and I went into a downward spiral. I began to drink very heavily and it was terrible. One night, I went to a bonfire and got very drunk, so the girl who had taken me to the party took me back to her house, but honestly I just wanted to go home. I had lost my car keys and my car was somewhere else I couldn’t remember. I called my sister around 2 a.m. and asked if she could take me home. I didn’t know how she’d react but she immediately replies with, 'Of course, I’ll leave now, just send the address.'
My sister drove 20 minutes to come get me and take me home. I remember my mom called right after my sister left and she was pissed. She said something like, 'You bring your sister's car back here. Now.' I explained I was drunk and she was coming to get me. My mom kinda just went, '...Oh, okay. Well, we’re going to talk when you get home.' I knew I was going to be kicked out of the house.
As I was sitting in the car with my sister, I started drunkenly crying, saying our parents were going to kick me out. She hugged me and said, 'Not if I can help it. I’m going to talk to Mom before anything happens when we get home.' We just talked while she drove me home and I was so happy she had my back. She did end up talking my mom and dad out of kicking me out the house. I love her so much for being there for me when I was at my lowest."
4. When this brother gave his sibling his favorite Pokémon card:
"My little brother and I were just hanging out in my room when all of a sudden he wanted to show me all of his Pokémon cards. I said I’d look at them since he was really enthusiastic about it. He brought them back and he said that his Eevee card was his favorite. As he was showing them to me he decided that he wanted to give me some. I told him he didn’t have to, but he insisted, going through the cards and selecting ones to give me. Then he got to his Eevee card. He looked at me then to the card then back to me and sighed, then said, 'This one is veeeerryy special to me...I want you to take good care of it.'
It was the most adorable thing he has ever done and I don’t think he has any idea how happy it made me. I still keep that card on my person at all times."
5. When this little brother tried his best to cook:
"When we were younger, our parents worked three jobs, so we were alone most of the time and money was low.
One day, my older sister and I were saying how bad we wanted nachos. Our little brother, who was around 6 years old at the time, came into the room holding a bowl with a crushed tostada and a microwaved slice of american cheese. It looked horrible. I hate american cheese; it always makes me want to puke.
I ate it anyways because I couldn't handle breaking my brother's heart by not appreciating his gesture."
6. When this brother made horror movies less scary:
"When I was younger, I was a grade-A coward, but I'd always watch horror movies with my older brother. He'd always joke around or pause the movie to poke fun at the scary things or let me hide in his sleeve when I got too scared. There was a scene from a movie I forget where he replayed it over and over, making dumb noises and shit until I was laughing."
7. When this brother made sure to share his music appropriately:
"My older brother’s favorite music artist was Eminem, and when I got my first iPod, he wanted to make sure I had at least a few Eminem songs on there. So he got the clean versions of several songs just for me (he never listened to the clean versions). I didn’t realize until a few years later when he was driving me somewhere and we listened to the explicit version of one of the songs."
8. When this brother intimidated his sibling's bully:
"Riding home on the school bus, there was this kid that I never got along with. One day, we got into it, and when the bus came to my stop, the kid got off as well.
He was considerably taller than me. As soon as my brother heard him shout at me, he dropped his backpack on the sidewalk and walked right up to the kid and stared him down. He didn't even have to say a word; the kid just turned around and went home."
9. When this brother really came through during a breakup:
"I was on a family holiday after just having my heart broken by my first boyfriend. I was trying to pack my stuff into my suitcase when I broke down crying. My little brother gave me the longest hug, told me everything would be okay and then finished packing my suitcase for me. He put up with so many tears that trip, but he never made me feel bad."
10. When this brother came and sat on the bed for old time's sake:
"When we were both young and still lived at home, we would just walk into each other’s rooms and sit and talk for hours. I’m the oldest and my brother is a year and a half younger than me. He was my best friend growing up. When I was back at home during the start of self-isolation, he came back for dinner one night. I was up in my old room going through some stuff later and he walked in, sat down on the edge of my bed, and we caught up on life.
We grew apart when we went to college, both taking very different paths. It made my heart melt when he came in to talk. I didn’t realize just how much I missed him."
11. When this brother hoarded food for his sibling:
"My little brother (4) and I (7) were grounded to our room for the day for some unexplained reason. After the crying stopped, my little brother pulled on my sleeve and said, 'Its okay, we won't starve.' He then pulled open the bottom drawer of our cupboard and revealed a toaster, two loaves of bread, margarine Vegemite, and jam. We ate like kings that day. When we were finally released, I asked my Dad why we were in there. He pointed to the spot where the toaster used to be. I just shrugged and said it was a bad neighborhood."
12. When this brother made sure his older sister was prepared for college:
"When I was packing for college, I was 17 and my brother was 10. He acted like he wasn’t sad that I was moving five hours away. But as I was about to leave, he ran out and screamed, 'Wait! You forgot your stuffed animals!'
So of course, I took them with me."
13. When this brother called his sibling his best friend:
"When my older brother (who I really admire) introduced me to the girl that was to become his wife, he said:
'This is my younger brother — my best friend.'
He had never referred to me that way before, so it meant everything to me!"
14. When these siblings sat down and talked about their tough childhoods:
"I was going through a tough time in the dorms at school and no one knew, but one day my big brother out of the blue picked me up and took me downtown to this fancy pizza joint and ice cream place. We walked and talked for hours catching up, and we both went through all of our struggles and major upcoming decisions in life.
We had a rough time growing up and it was the first time we really acknowledged it together. We talked about how messed up we were but how there was still so much hope for the future. That we’d be okay as long as we have family. That feeling of connection to him kept me feeling warm for a long time, and he brought it right when I needed it most."
15. When this brother saved a sentimental drawing:
"My sister and I are very close in age, so we’re also very close. We always thought it was us against my brother, who was much older. I think we cramped his style by being annoying little sisters.
I don’t even remember why, but I would draw random stick figures of each of us one by one on scrap pieces of paper — two little girl stick figures and a bigger boy one. Years later, I was in my brother’s room looking for something and I noticed his cork board had one of my stick figure drawings of us. I had forgotten I'd even drawn them until that moment. It was then that I realized he actually cherished us as siblings."
16. When these sisters baked cookies together:
"My sister has depression. She's usually isolated and keeps to herself, so these moments come pretty rarely. It's really just us talking together that really make my day. She can get really aggressive towards people, and very quickly too. One moment that really stuck with me was when she asked if we could make cookies together. I know this is really normal for some people, but her offering to do something with me was a 1/1,000,000 chance. Even though the cookies were like cake batter and only half baked, the fact that I made them with her made them taste amazing!"
17. When these siblings made the exact same mistake:
"I don't know if it's wholesome, but I like the story: We lived on a very quiet rural road. One day, we both passed each other driving opposite directions and, as was very normal for folk to do in those parts, threw our cars in reverse. We backed up next to each other and chatted for a few minutes, then said our see-you-laters. In perfect unison, we accelerated and both shot backwards like a pair of idiots."
18. When this sibling supported their sister coming out:
"A favorite moment of mine is when my sister told me she was gay and I just said, 'Yeah dude, I know' and we just kind of kept playing video games. I'd never seen her smile so big and get so flustered at the same time."
19. When this brother made sure his younger sibling had lunch:
"I was in the first grade and my brother was in the second grade at the time. My mom would always send us a packed lunch before we headed to school. When lunch break came, I opened my lunch bag only to find out that my food container wasn't properly closed, making my food spill out onto the floor. I cried a lot because I didn't have money to buy lunch and I was very hungry. My brother heard of the incident from my homeroom teacher, so he offered his lunch to me, which left him with no food (he insisted I eat his lunch)."
20. When this brother was there for his sibling in a tough time:
"Late September 2019, I was feeling suicidal so i texted my parents (who were out at dinner) about the situation. They said they'd get there ASAP, but pointed out that my brother was closer and asked me if i wanted him to come, too. I said yes, so he came over and hugged me really tight when he found me sobbing in the family room."
21. When this sibling broke the rules for his brother:
"I was about 8 years old, maybe a bit younger, and my brother around 6. My mother had read the first Harry Potter as a bedtime story to us. However, she decided that the second was a bit too much for a 6-year-old. I could already read and she didn't try to keep me from it, but she wouldn't read it to my younger brother...so I decided to read it to him instead."
22. When this sibling got really excited for his brother:
"A few months back, my nephew was born. My family and I had gone to see my brother and his fiancé at the hospital the day after and we spent some time with them, just talking about what had been going on.
When we decided to leave, I just got overwhelmed with emotion and felt really giddy. My mom chuckled and called my brother out of the hospital room, telling him that I wanted to say something. He stepped out of the room and I, on impulse, said 'You got a baby!' in the most ridiculous voice. He laughed, wrapped an arm around me, and went, 'Yeah, yeah I do.' Then he went back to join his family and I felt unbelievably happy for the first time in years."
23. When these siblings played Animal Crossing together:
"Recently, we both started playing Animal Crossing and working on the same island. We like plan out what we're gonna do and what villagers we want. It's really pure!"
24. When these siblings spent the entire day playing Super Mario:
"When my brother and I were little, we used to play a lot of Super Mario Bros. We weren't very good, but our dad was. We would always beg him to play so we could watch the levels we couldn't beat. He told us that if we wanted him to play, we should get him lots of lives.
"Well, my brother and i took that statement to the extreme. We got up early and took turns grinding for lives. We spent five hours and got 86 lives, then we proudly showed our dad, assuming he would play for HOURS for us to watch. He played for about an hour before he needed to get back to yard work."
25. And finally, when this sister admitted she missed her sibling:
"My sister never shows her feelings. We never say that we love each other, even if it's true. Two weeks ago, she spent a week studying at a friend's house and when she came back she said to me, 'I missed you.' It was a small thing, but it was soooooo powerful."
BRB, crying.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. You can also text TALK to 741741 for free, anonymous 24/7 crisis support in the US from the Crisis Text Line.
Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
H/T: Reddit.