I have a Brother?! (5)

So at 13 years old, I just found out that the man who has raised me is indeed not my biological father, and now my biological father now would like to be apart of my life...

THEN... I find out on TOP of that....I have a brother; who, I had never met before (at an age I could understand)

Then part of me was happy thinking, okay, cool, he figured out how to be a dad! That's awesome! Maybe hes not so bad after all :) And the other half of me was angry that he was a good dad to Dakota and not I.

DAKOTA MICHAEL...

Where do I even begin with the journey that is my baby brother and now best friend...

Well, if you've been following this series of my life up until now, you should know, that the blonde haired blue eyed little kid that handed me my letter from my dad at the fair that day, and totally changed my life.... that was my brother...Although I did not know it at the time.

Dakota and I began quietly obtaining a real strong friendship and bond over AOL Instant Messenger at the time. We talked and chatted almost every night. We had so much in common. It was almost as if we had never really ever been separated. Dakota and I talked about almost anything and everything. He was the only one I secretly felt like I could truly open up to about everything going on and who really truly got it and understood.

Most wild part for me, was the first time I saw a picture of Dakota... I sat and stared at it for a while. Before blurting out. Oh my God... he's like my TWIN! There was definitely NO denying we were siblings!

I truly believe that even to this day Dakota was my "light" in all of this. As a "child" himself he had a different view and insight to the whole situation. One that I didn't have the opportunity to have because I was shut out of the knowledge of it entirely.

I was never nervous to meet Dakota like I was Mike. I'm not sure why, maybe because I already felt such a strong connection and bond to him that I felt it was like I already knew him. That I kinda in a way felt like we were in this together. Because as crazy and confusing as this was for me to find out, Dakota knew all along and had been dealing with the ramifications of the effects it had on my father since day 1.

We were just two kids thrown into a very emotionally difficult situation, and we were about to tackle it head on... TOGETHER.

Dakota was my light when i was in darkness about a lot of issues surrounding my father. And although I formed my own very special bond with my father and made mends with our relationship, i must say, that Dakota was the extra seal of super glue on it all along the way helping me to better understand.

Never in my life had I met such a kind, emotional, caring soul as this boys. I mean, I know I am his sister and he is supposed to be nice to me but lets face it, he didn't HAVE to, and I probably brought about more issues for him than I even realize.

Dakota and I have grown to have a bond unlike any other. He's my very best friend. We talk all the time about how, if only we had gotten to actually grow up together, how much fun we would've had. Truth: I think God knew our parents couldn't have handled it! ;) Because boyyy did we sure make up for lost time once we were reunited. Some of the best nights, belly laughs, life talks, drives, memories and much more, were made with my little brother Dakota.

I cant wait to share with you some of those adventures :) Stay tuned!