Meet the family, part 1

My brother Ethan just turned 18 last month. He's the only boy in my family, and sometimes he is a mystery to me. I am never completely sure if he's being lazy, efficient, or just smart. He can't seem to do much for himself. He always asks for other people to fix him meals, help him with homework, do his dishes. But the thing is, at least half the time, someone always does. Maybe that is more a reflection of our perception of him as the baby of the family. Regardless, he sometimes seems pretty much helpless, but only because he chooses to be.

Ethan also obsesses about the strangest things. Lately it's been Sea Island Cotton (a step up in price and quality from Egyptian cotton, which was his previous obsession) and Bugatti cars (which are fast and cool, or something). Sometimes it's a comedian, a cause, an extreme sports athlete, a TV show, a spider monkey, or any combination of those things. Whatever it is, I always get to hear all about it.

Ethan is an absolute sweetheart. He hates conflict of almost any kind (lacrosse excepted), and will be the first one in our family to say, "Alright now, let's just get along children." He gives hugs (even though he often will try to crush your ribs to show off his muscles in the process), he lets me know that he misses me, and he takes great pleasure in getting really thoughtful gifts for people. I remember once when he was about 8, I had had some teeth pulled and I was miserably sipping juice on the couch. He came over to the couch and said, very solemnly, "I'm sorry you're sick, I hope you feel better soon" and gave me a hug. I was amazed that an annoying little brother could suddenly be so sweet.

Ethan is also exceptionally cool. He plays lacrosse year round, and he is actually really good. He plays on the defense, so he has a eight-foot lacrosse stick that he skillfully uses to knock other players down. He likes to grow his hair out, and for a while he even had a little Jedi braid behind his right ear. He hair was as blonde as mine is for a long time, but now it's a darker blonde that looks really good with his tan skin. He wants to work as a wildfire firefighter this summer. He also plays the cello, so he's got some culture and class. Granted, he likes to play Apocalyptica as well as Bach, but still.

Amazingly, Ethan is also one of the most mature 18 year olds that I know. He had a girlfriend for about a year, but they decided to just be friends and date other people because they both realized they shouldn't limit themselves and they might not go to the same college and it would be a lot harder to break up later. But--get this--they really are just friends now! I think they probably still like each other, but they are making it work. I don't know of anyone else who has ever made that situation work happily.

Despite all this, Ethan occasionally still mystifies me. A typical phone conversation (and I'm not exaggerating) goes like this:
Me: Hey buddy, how are you?
Ethan: Good.
Me: Good, good. How's school going?
Ethan: It's good.
Me: ...Good. Anything new happening these days?
Ethan: Not really.
Me: ......Okay, well, is Mom there?
And that's about it. Sometimes I really pump him and get a little more info out of him, but he doesn't say much. Unless, of course, it's about a spider monkey.