April 10 was National Siblings Day, a day to celebrate relationships among siblings. Yet I find myself thanking God for the true blessing of my younger brother, Mark, more than just on April 10.
As children, my brother and I got along fairly well, something our friends found unusual. Our parents can attest that we had our moments (and we still do) when we disagreed with one another and needed our space. When he moved away for school and jobs, we talked daily and visited often. So you can imagine how excited I was when he returned home in 2017. I never imagined that a year later we would be working just down the hall from each other. While it is a little weird, I like the familiarity of seeing his smile or hearing his deep voice as he passes by the Courier office.
Recently, I have been working on a story and video involving the younger sister and brother of two diocesan seminarians. Abbi Kelly, sister of Aaron Kelly, and Anthony Muscatella, brother of James Muscatella, recently gave a Theology on Tap talk about their roles in their brothers’ calls to priestly vocations. I found this talk to be interesting, as we rarely get to hear this sort of perspective. Talking with Abbi and Anthony individually, I quickly learned how different their stories are. Despite these contrasting narratives, there was one key similarity — just how much these two sets of siblings love, care for and support one another. Their relationships sounded awfully similar to my own sibling relationship.
Sibling relationships are hard. Many people are estranged from their siblings. So I’m very grateful and blessed that I have such a close relationship with my brother, and I’m sure the Kelly and Muscatella siblings echo my sentiments.
Capellazzi is new media coordinator for the Catholic Courier.
