Laws of Nature
It’s unfortunate for Sir Isaac Newton, who must have been extraordinarily pleased with himself, that gravity does not meet with the approval of everyone. I’m packed into a car with my family on the way to brunch at the pancake house, watching my two-year-old nephew become increasingly infuriated that his toy cars are not staying in their organized line-up on his tray. Having wheels, they have this tendency to roll. But such is life: we all have to obey the laws of physics, however inconvenient they may be. Eventually you learn that unless you have a parking brake, if you place something on a slope it’s highly unlikely it’s going to stay there.
My nephew, however, is still young enough to think that the laws of nature should always work in his favor, and not yet old enough to see that, in a way, they do. Even if everything else is a mess, there will always be certain constants in life. The sky is blue. Water is wet. If you throw a toy car inside an enclosed vehicle, it’s not going to stop until it hits something (or somebody). Even if you’ve just been knocked in the noggin with a Tonka truck, it’s comforting to know that some things remain the same.
Family is one of those constants. Though we spent years battling one another through acts of guerilla terrorism (sibling rivalry being another of those immutable facts of life), my brother and I at last came to the realization that it was actually nice having a sibling, a friend in the trenches. If you can finally reach a truce, you may find that your brother or sister becomes more than someone you’re forced to spend time with because you just happen to be related, but a close friend, a confidante and an ally.
But old habits do die hard.
It’s later in the day and we’re all on the beach. My brother is building a carefully engineered sand ziggurat, ostensibly for his son who is splashing back and forth across a nearby tide pool. I’m handed a shovel with which I am evidently supposed to get to work, this being a common scenario from our youth. Having survived years as his little sister, I’ve earned the right to do what I’m about to do without any other justification than that he’s my brother.
As I dump a shovel-full of water down his neck, I think that gravity is a wonderful thing.
Image by David J W Bailey
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
