“Has your brother changed?” Seems a simple question, but it’s not for me. Not really.

The question was asked of me by a new friend when I shared my excitement about a visit from my oldest sibling, Alex. When the question was asked of me, it was the day my brother had arrived in the area from Florida, returning for his 50-year class reunion.

Alex and I met for dinner that first evening and shared a good meal and a great conversation. He was exhausted from a long day traveling and departed my company fairly early. After he left, my friend posed the question.

And there wasn’t the easy answer expected as the question caught me off guard. Changed?

My friend was a bit taken aback that his question didn’t draw a quick response but the reason is this: Alex was almost 12 when I was born. I had just turned 12 when he moved away from the Upper Peninsula after he graduated from Michigan Tech University.

We just haven’t been at the same stages of life. I was 6 when he graduated from high school. When I graduated from high school, Alex was 29 and living in Boston, celebrating the birth of his first child.

Alex has had a great career as an engineer, first in the nuclear field and later in solar power. He has lived in Alabama, California, Texas, Virginia and Massachusetts, among other places. He’s “retired” but is hired as a consultant quite frequently still.

My career has been at this one company for 33 years. I have lived in Negaunee and Harvey. Although I’m no spring chicken, retirement is years away for me.

Plus Alex is a lifelong Detroit Lions fan and I am an ardent Green Bay Packer backer.

Despite all the differences, Alex and I have always had a great relationship, mostly because he’s a wonderful man. He’s funny. He’s kind. He’s wickedly smart. While not a man of many words, he has always been a brother who cares for all three of his siblings.

Alex, my sister Chris and brother Eric are less than four years apart in age. They grew up together, literally, sharing mischief, secrets and many memories.

My brother Mark was 6 years younger than Eric and I am 2 years younger than that. Mark was killed in an accident before my first birthday, so in many ways, I was an only “child” in that my siblings were already teens by the time I was 5.

They all have been good to me, the kid sister. Generally. My brothers teased me a lot but always took care of me when needed.

When Alex returned for Negaunee’s Pioneer Days and the Class of 1965 reunion, it had been 13 years since I had seen him. Had he changed, the question was … by the time he got on the plane to go back to Amelia Island, I had the answer, finally.

Yes, Alex had changed. He was somehow an even better man than I remembered. He was excited by being back home, for sure, and he also was nostalgic for his Wonder Years, those days during his youth when our parents were still with us and life had so many simple pleasures.

Now that we’re both getting up there in years, we talked even more deeply than before. He told me about things that happened before I was old enough to understand, some of them hilarious, some of them poignant.

The Sunday Alex was home, some cousins and other family members stopped by a gathering organized for the sole purpose of seeing him. He was delighted as one uncle and 23 cousins, with a few spouses thrown in the mix, stopped by. Memories were discussed, stories were told and photos were snapped.

It was a great day, for sure.

“Has your brother changed?” Haven’t we all? We should all be so lucky to become an even more amazing person with each passing year like my brother Alex.

Can’t wait to see him again.