There's no way to overstate just how world-shattering news like this would be. Imagine spending your entire life never doubting your relationship to the members of your family, only to find out when you're already late into your teens that you're only half-related to your sibling.
Pam Lara, 18, is one of three siblings. She found out when she was 9 that they were actually her half-brother and half-sister, but says she kept that fact to herself. “I had to keep it a secret from everyone just so it wouldn’t affect our family,” she says. “And mostly because I was scared that I was going to be looked at differently by my siblings.”
Pam's older sister found out "in an unpleasant way" but agreed to keep it a secret for some time — until the older sister got into a fight with the youngest brother, 17-year-old Bran, and spilled the news. Pam had no idea how Bran would respond.
But she needn't have worried. What you're about to see has to be the sweetest, funniest, and most perfect response possible to such a paradigm-shifting bit of news.
Pam posted Bran's "reaction" to Twitter.
This original tweet has racked up over 11,000 retweets and 50,000 likes since she first posted it.
Apparently, Bran decided that the best way to know his sister's position in his heart hadn't changed was with snacks. Smart man.
But of course it also came with this note. In case you can't read that:
“I just wanted to let you know how much I love you. I don’t care what people say, you are always going to be my sister — my full blooded sister. You are the best thing that happened to me, I love you with all my heart. Thank you for helping me on my worst and thank you for leading me the right way. I will always be there for you, just like you always been there for me. I love you.
With love, your annoying brother."
Pam's willingness to share has encouraged others to open up about similar stories.
There's one common theme to these stories: The truth rarely shifts the relationship between kids who find out their biology is not what they'd always assumed.
This one hadn't even met nine of his blood relations, but that doesn't mean they're not family.
Even if they can't relate to the situation, people are still loving the story.
It's exactly the way you hope Bran would have handled the situation, and it shows that love isn't always dictated by blood.
Seriously, though, that letter needs to be locked in the Smithsonian and filed under "Perfection."
Similar stories have continued to pour in.
This response is great, too, because it feels like something two brothers who've spent a childhood annoyed at one another would absolutely say.
Legal hurdles aside, this one is absolutely adorable.
And even if everyone isn't as eloquent as Bran was, the message is the same.
What makes someone family is about much more than who their parents are. Once you've grown up together, laughed and fought and lived under the same roof for all those years, you're family. End of discussion.
Some people seem barely able to tweet through their tears of joy.
No, we're pretty sure you are crying.
Call it whatever you want, but don't act like this beautiful story isn't the reason for your eye moisture!
https://twitter.com/magneticswarm/status/1022325633005826048
If you have someone in your life as gracious and unconditionally loving as Bran, don't take them for granted!
