The Beauty of a 15-Year Age Gap

So I showed Ty my website and he was (in typical 8yo fashion) - shook.

He asked if I'll ever write a "Ty article"

I said "hmmmm maybe one day. Right now I really like writing about racing"

But the lil guy has me thinking about him tonight with a heart sooo full that he might just get the Shrimpy article he was looking for.

Fifteen years. That’s the space between us —long enough for me to have lived an entire childhood before he even took his first breath.

Crazy, right?

Long enough that I wasn’t just a big sister, I was something between a second mom and a built-in best friend.

I was 15 when he was born. Old enough to really remember it.

Old enough to hold him carefully, to learn how to feed him, to rock him to sleep. I remember his tiny hands wrapping around my finger, his head resting against my chest, the way his eyes followed me like I was the center of his universe.

I wasn’t just watching him grow, I was part of it.

And now, I’m 23. He’s 8. He’s not a baby anymore, but still, somehow, he’s mine.

The little boy who once needed me for everything is now full of his own thoughts, his own jokes, his own personality that catches me off guard.

He’s quick-witted and sharp, with a sense of humor that has me laughing out loud when I least expect it. He teases me like only a little brother can, throwing in a “you’re so old” or a "you’re such a nerd" whenever he gets the chance, but he still looks for me when he’s excited, when he’s upset, when he just wants to be with someone.

There’s something surreal about watching someone become a person in real time.

I’ve seen his first steps, heard his first words, sat through hours of Blippi, PJ Masks and now Fortnite just because he wanted company.

I’ve been there for bedtime chattiness and morning "baby coffee".

I've been there for scraped knees and tough days, for whispered secrets and uncontrollable giggles over things that aren’t even that funny.

I've been there for Venom movies and drawing together and sharing music and holding him close, even as he gets older.

And the bond we have? It’s different from the usual sibling dynamic.

I’ve always been too old to be his equal, too young to be his parent, but somehow, we exist in this in-between space that’s all our own.

He knows I’ll protect him, but he also knows I’ll let him win sometimes in Mario Kart (not Fortnite, he carries me there 😹)

He knows he can tell me anything, and he knows no problem is ever too big for his big sis to fix. He knows I’ll always be there, no matter what.

There’s something beautiful about an age gap this wide. He wasn’t just a little brother who entered my life... he shaped it.

He made me softer, more patient, more aware of how precious time really is. And as he grows — into himself, into his own person —that love only deepens.

Fifteen years apart, but somehow, never far.

That's my Ty & I :))