Kieron Graham always knew he had an older brother named Vincent. Though Kieron spent years thinking about him, he could never track him down.

That changed in December 2017, when Kieron’s adoptive parents gave him an Ancestry DNA test as a Christmas gift. Kieron, now 21, sent his saliva (唾液) sample in for analysis. When his results came back, he was stunned to find he had a lot of DNA matches for relatives who had also taken the test. Most were distant connections, but one match was so strong that it was labeled “close family.” His name was Vincent Ghant. Kieron looked for him on Facebook and soon made a possible connection.

“This is going to sound so wild...but I think you’re my brother,” Kieron wrote on Facebook’s Messenger app. “I was given up for adoption in 1997 and it says on my paperwork that my mother has a son with your name and your birth date. Her name is Shawn.”

“This is crazy,” said Vincent.

The craziness was just beginning. As they talked, the brothers realized they lived about 20 minutes from each other. More surprisingly, they attended the same university and majored and minored in the same subjects : political science and legal studies.

Vincent was nine when Kieron was born and remembers caring for his baby brother. But times were tough, and Shawn, who worked 15-plus hours a day as a nurse, decided that placing Kieron for adoption would give him the best chance to succeed.

“She was very emotional about that time, to the point where it was hard for her to put into words anything about what happened,” Vincent says.

Now the brothers had the chance to make up for lost time. They decided to meet at a local tea shop that week.

One of Vincent’s concerns was that Kieron might resent his birth family for placing him for adoption. He was relieved Kieron didn’t, and that he’d grown up in a loving family.

Since that first meeting, the brothers have bonded even more. They play football together and celebrated Christmas with their families. “We’ll keep growing our relationship until it’s time to leave this planet,” says Vincent. That shouldn’t be hard. As Kieron says, “We’ve got years and years to catch up on.”

You might be the apple of your mother’s eye, which could only be a good thing. But adults who believe they are their mother's favorite child are at an increasing risk of depression, according to a study.

“It is a huge cost for those who think they get closest to their mothers, and these children report higher depressive symptoms（症状）,” said Professor Jill Suitor from Purdue University in Indiana, who led the study.

The academics used date collected from 725 adult children with an average age of 49, analyzing levels of emotional closeness, conflict, pride and disappointment.

The researchers added that previous studies had found that those who were closer to their mothers experienced less closeness with their siblings (兄弟姐妹).

Though few mothers or fathers would admit that they have a favorite son or daughter, studies have suggested they often do.

One such piece of research, which was carried out by the University of California in 2005, found that 65 percent of mothers and 70 percent of fathers showed a preference for one of their children over their siblings.

A previous study carried out by Professor Suitor and Dr Gilligan found that mothers tended to favor an adult child who was similar to them, in terms of values and beliefs.

Arabella Russell, a professor in Dorking, Surrey, said family problems, such as the siblings cannot get along well with each other, can often spill over into our romantic relationships, by influencing how we relate to our partners.

As my kids and I walked around a community garden the other week, I asked them what veggies they could identify. We were in Alberta, where many plants were still in their early stages of growth—I wasn’t optimistic about what the kids would be able to name by leaves alone. However, they called out, “Tomatoes! Potatoes! Carrots!” Their answers made me even proud. All the time we’ve spent in our home garden is actually sinking in.

Although I’ve been gardening for years, this year feels different. Spending time in the garden has helped me with my own well-being at a trying time, and it has given me a new way to connect with my kids.

My garden is wild, full of life, and a bit messy. Honestly, the same goes for my kids— and I don’t expect perfection from them either. Unless you’re relying on your yield for money or food, it’s a good idea to have your expectations for gardening as low as possible. My kids say they “love the garden” but “don’t like gardening” —I think they mean they don’t like the chores. If I have some weeding or potting to do, I’ll also have some entertainment for them, which can be as simple as “find these 10 rocks” or “wet this plot with your water gun”.

Involving the kids in every stage of the process can be powerful and fun, even if what you have are just a few containers on a balcony. “Gardening allows us to spend free, unscheduled outdoor time with our kids,” writes journalist and author Shannon Brescher Shea. “Let your kids lead the way. Invite them to participate in every step, from planting to harvesting, but don’t force it.”

One of the best things about gardens is the food, but frankly, my kids are not going to be pushing greens into their mouths any time soon. Finding uses for garden goods that go beyond food production can spark interest and supply you with some unexpectedly good results.