This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago.

It involved a bit of coercing, some nagging and a shit load of bribery. I suddenly remembered that it had been almost a year since the previous face close up and I wanted to look back and see how much has stayed the same and how much is different.

It’s funny though as a photo can only tell you so much. Etched between the pixelated granules of texture and the filters of photo shop are the hundreds of stories that are part of you, yet are not visible to the lens of a camera.

When I compare these two photos I am searching for clues of life, for signs that the sibling fighting and bickering was not always there, that these two faces that became one are closer in real life than an image may portray. It’s funny how everyone knows that social media shows the highlight reel of life, yet I too get sucked in more often then I would like… believing that other people’s kids love each other to bits, are kind and thoughtful and playful and nurturing of the blood connection between brothers and sisters.

And whilst my head knows that no-one ever shows the sibling rivalry on Instagram (I mean, you can’t exactly hashtag gratitude when your kids are hating each other with dagger eyes) my heart still desires for life to be this picture perfect.

Is it because I am scared that you may always fight and grow apart? Could it be because I know there are only two of you and I cannot fathom how you could not be close? I come from a family of four siblings. Yes there is no doubt I am closer to some compared to others and things I would share with one of them that I would never mention to the other. But whether it is the passage of time or the experience of life, I know I love them all and understand that blood is truly thicker then water.

I wonder what next year’s face photo will bring. Will I discover the two of you more often side by side like this? Or will the lure of bribery be even tougher to get you both together? I hope that through the muddle of your live’s twists and turns, you will continue to seek each other out on your individual paths, and learn that it is only family that will ever make you feel like one whole person.