Brother kept rent money paid by sibling as a surprise [money is for house downpayment]

They say siblings have a bond that stays forever. Even though as little kids, they would seem to get into fights frequently, they tend to become closer when they get older, just like brothers Todd and Alex Burkemper from Missouri.

Older brother Todd has been stashing his younger brother's rent money for years. That was not because he wanted to piss him off like when kids do pranks. It was because he wanted to surprise him later.

Todd's care for his brother

The Chive reports that after graduating from college in 2011, Todd started to work hard. He landed a job in a property management software company as an app designer and senior software developer. Being blessed with such a job opportunity, Todd was able to move forward. Despite the debts from his student loan, house, and car payment, he managed to pull through. However, this did not mean abandoning his beloved brother.

It was actually the exact opposite. Todd made sure she got Alex's back.

When Alex graduated from college in 2017, Todd offered for Alex to stay in his house at Wentzville, Missouri. For the first six months, Alex stayed for free. Although after that, Todd charged his brother for rent.

Todd religiously took his brother's money. The older sibling deposited this to a savings account and tossed in a few more bucks before he revealed a surprise to Alex.

Rent money turned house down payment

All along, Todd kept the rent money to give it back to Alex as a down payment for Alex's own home.

Todd only revealed this to Alex when the latter already decided that he wanted his own home.

Alex's offer to a house was accepted last May 26, so it was only proper for Todd to surprise his sibling. The brothers' parents were there to witness the revelation to Alex.

They have known about the secret savings over the years but made sure it remained a secret.

A heartwarming story

The brothers' mother, Barbara Burkemper, filmed the surprise to Alex. She was also the one who share the story to Good News Network, for everyone to see.

She said in an email to the site that "After posting this story on my FaceBook page that evening, and reading all of the heartwarming responses, I felt compelled to share this story of brotherly love with a wider audience."

Barbara also shared that the two are best friends since the beginning.

Todd said that as an older sibling, he does not want Alex to experience the same struggles that he had to go through.

Everyone in the room was crying during the announcement, especially Alex. When Todd showed the screen of his phone to Alex and told him that it was his money from all the rent payments that he made, the brothers turned emotional.

The parents of the Burkemper brothers are very proud of the kind of people their boys became.