Update to Complete Awesomeness!
So, today was the day in which I met my brother Edward for the first time since he was around 1 year of age.
As soon as I got off of work at 7:30AM, I went home and changed out of my work clothes. Regretably, I had to wake up saeko_yayoi (she spent the night at my place). I had to wake her up because I wasn't about to jam out of there without informing her of my whereabouts, she was after all my guest, and it's wrong to ditch your guests.
After making a quick call to my aunt to let her know that I was ready, she said that she was going to give me a call as soon as she was on her way from picking him up (my Aunt Imelda was basically our inter-median since she had previous met him). As soon as I recieved her call, I was out of my apartment and making my way to her house. Just a few minutes after I arrived at her place, I saw them pull up to the curb. When I say him, it was like seeing my brother Raul (Lito is his nickname) as a younger kid all over again. Seriously, he has the same hair, same eyebrows, lips, practically the same nose, and same body structure from before Lito's growth spurt. Talk about deja vu. There is no way that his relation to the rest of us can ever be denied.
We sat down and began talking about each other's families. He was blown away when I informed him one of nine kids. His eyes just grew huge. It was endearing. We was also amazed by the shear number of cousins he has from our father's side fo the family. It turns out that he's also from a huge family on his mother's side where the majority of them or males; now it's been evened out for him since the majority of our father's side fo the family or females XD We discovered that we have many of the same likes and dislikes. We both enjoy RPGs, techno/trance music, South Park (XDD who doesn't?), we don't like country music, like to eat just about anything, and more things... still learning what they all are.
It was nice getting to know him. And spending the morning and early afternoon with him was fun. I know the family surprised him... the girls can be pretty routy. But over all, I believe he handled it well. He stuck up an awesome conversation with Lito when he called. They talked for over an hour on games, likes and dislikes, etc. I know those two will become great friends and the familial bond will definitely strengthen as time goes on. Hopefully, he will be able to get his brother Victor to come out of his protective shell and get to know us. But, I did tell Edward that I didn't want him to feel as if he's being forced to get to know us. Once Victor is ready, we'll let nature take it's course and take it from there. I know that once he realizes that his is a wanted member of the family and that we all grew up sharing similiar feelings about our father, then he'll be ready to meet us. I waited 17 years to get to know Javier, and it paid off. I've waited 13 years to meet Edward and that's paid off. I'll continue to wait for the time all my siblings are ready and once they are, I'll be there waiting to introduce them to the clan of siblings (and to the chaotic and vast family they are part of).
So all-in-all, today past all of my expectations. Even though I was (and still am) sleep-deprived, it's been more than worth it. Even the part where my family kept reiterating that I was getting "old" O_o Whatever. You're only as young or old as you feel, and I feel (and look) quite young, thank you very much; he had fun joining them on the "old" comments XD with the girls and while on the phone with Lito.
They are so alike. I can't wait to meet Victor.
Well, until that day comes.