Nekia is my brother from another mother. Before he was 8, he had barely left Brooklyn.  In 2013 Nekia’s mom signed him up for a program called the Fresh Air Fund. This program matches kids from New York City with a host family in the suburbs for a two week visit.  My parents found out about the program from an article in a local paper and signed up to host a child. After Nekia’s mom signed him up at his school, he was matched with my family.   That first summer, we scheduled a 10 day visit in July.   When the time came, we drove to New York City to pick him up.   I can remember getting out of my car and smelling the hot asphalt. As I walked from our car to the Fresh Air Fund office, the exhaust from the cars and the extreme heat gave me a headache. We went inside the office and that is where I met Nekia for the first time. He wasn't very tall, but he was muscular and confident. He had a mohawk, some sweet shiny shoes, a single duffle bag, a plain red hoodie, and jeans. We shook hands and said our hellos, I remember Nekia coming up to my brother very confidently and saying “Hello, Im Nekia!”. We then drove home, the car ride was a little awkward but tolerable.

That first impression was confusing for me. I had never really met anyone my age who lived in Brooklyn.  Nekia felt the same way. He thought I was a brat, and he was mean to me. We played pool or wiffle ball outside, but it would almost always turn into me being thrown to the ground.  One day we were playing Xbox and he beat me in the game we were playing. I proceeded to be a sore loser and accuse him of cheating. That response resulted in me being chased around my backyard screaming.  He was much more physical than my brother and I was a little scared of him.  Thankfully my mom helped smooth things over and by the time his visit ended, we didn’t want to say good-bye. After that, Nekia returned every summer and our relationship grew.   I have many stories from those years, whether it be at the Waveny pool, trips to the Adirondack, apple picking, seeing a hilarious play, or building Legos.  After many great years, Nekia began to visit outside of the Fresh Air Fund because we were like family. 

 When it was time for high school, he applied to a few schools and chose to go to the Harvey School. Over his high school career, he worked tremendously hard, whether it was in the classroom or the sports field. He boarded at Harvey during the week and either went home or lived with us on the weekends. When he lived with us, he came to my baseball and soccer games, we went on hikes, or we did some community service at the New Canaan Nature Center. While all of these were fun activities I distinctly remember my mom always forcing us to go on hikes, rain or shine. One hike I can remember was over a weekend stay with Nekia. The air was cool and the ground was soft and muddy. The dogs always found their way into a pile of mud and came back filthy. Nekia and I raced down paths and listened to music with each other. Our hikes were never too long, most of the time a two or three mile loop.  The drives were commonly half an hour to an hour to the paths and the car ride back was the absolute worst. Our shoes were muddy, the dogs were drooling and the mosquito bites were extra itchy. As I look back on these hikes, while I couldn’t say they were the most fun, I'm glad I did them because through these hikes Nekia and I grew closer and closer. 

 This year, Nekia is a senior, and his exceptional sports skills, hard work, and intelligence allowed him to be accepted to the University of Michigan where he will study to become an engineer - a dream he has had since I met him.

 Nekia has been a major part of my life and helped me learn that brotherhood isn’t just biological. He helped me realize that someone who has a very different background can still be a friend. Overall, I hope this story inspires you to meet someone new.  Sit with different people during lunch, start a conversation with kids you have never met, and get out of your comfort zone. Because I did this, I now have a brother for life in Nekia.