Blessing #5--My brother

~Ode to my brother~

Growing up, he'd tell me "You better watch out. Someday, someone isn't going to be as nice as me and they are going to smack you upside your head." He had good reason, too. I pushed him to the limit in the patience department. I would aggravate him to no end at times. When I was probably about 9 or 10 years old, I put chocolate cake in his underwear while he was sleeping so that he'd think he'd poohed his pants in the night. He wasn't pleased. Then, I tried to bribe him not to tell on me...by offering him a quarter. It didn't work.

Oh, and did I mention he is the one person I know who can sleep in any position, on any surface, at any time? Growing up, he'd fall asleep in the weirdest positions and I'd try to wake him to get him to go to his bed. But, nope! He would actually prefer a concrete floor to his own bed.

He calls me "Kid" and I call him "Adult". We've had many running jokes since our childhood. We have laughed for years about the word "pants". You have to hear how he says the word, too. But, nonetheless, we've always wondered why the word is plural. There aren't two pieces. So, why is it plural? Why is it "a pair of pants"? Now, we've analyzed this and we recognize that there are two leg holes. However, if that is the reasoning for the word being plural, then the same should be true for a shirt. But, it isn't. We don't say I need "a pair of shirts" simply because there are two arm holes. This makes no sense... and my brother and I have loved to discuss, laugh and joke about this for years and years.

He used to call me "Shrimp" and "Squirt" just because it got under my skin. He knew it annoyed me. We certainly knew how to push one another's buttons. But, as a team, we could be great. I can remember so many times that, as soon as my parents would leave the house, my brother and I would go crazy cleaning out the refrigerator and pantry, ridding it of all the stuff that mom insisted was still good--despite the long-since-past expiration date. Seriously, who needs cranberry mustard that is 3 years old?

He's an amazing brother, but he's a fantastic uncle, too. He's mastered diapers, bathtime, and storytime. He just has a way with kids. And it is so stinkin' fun to watch.
Despite the chocolate cake incident and the fact that I pinched him down to his knuckle with my fingernails when I was young, he still loves me. He is a man of few words, but I've never doubted that he cares about me. He's not the crying type. But, (according to my sister-in-law), he cried the week before my wedding just because he felt badly that he didn't know my now hubby better. Thinking about that still touches my heart and makes me teary-eyed.

He calls me when he is in traffic just to say hi. He probably is better at keeping in touch with me than I am with him. But, he loves me...and I know it. And, I'm blessed because of it.

I couldn't have asked for a better brother than the one I was blessed to receive. Happy Birthday season Adult. I love you.