My brother

Yesterday was my big brothers birthday. Yes, mom, I remembered to call him! He's WAAAAY older than I am, so I won't post his age, but just remember....he's LOTS older!

I've always been "into" my brother. When I was little I can remember going into his room, and sitting on his stomach while he was lying on his bed and talking to him. And because I was a typical little girl, I talked and talked and talked and talked, while he just made noises that sounded like he was paying attention. When my mom and dad would go out (which was rarely) he would tell me we were going to play a really cool game called "Butler." I would be the butler, and he would tell me what to do, which usually meant changing the TV channel for him. Yes, these were the olden days before remote controls. I remember when he took a trip to Yellowstone with his friends, and when he came home, I thought he went to Jellystone, just like in the Yogi bear cartoons. I asked him if he saw Yogi, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith, and he did all their voices for me in response. Bet he doesn't remember that one! When he left on his mission, I would run away from home and take only his picture with me....I would get a stick, a bandanna and tie it up inside the bandanna. I know, I was a little wierd.

Once my brother got home from his mission, he was pretty much gone from then on....college, marriage, kids, etc. I really didn't get to spend any time with him or get to know him until I went to college. I am so grateful for all the time I spent with him during those 3 years....hanging out at the condos, talking about mom and dad, Bobby, music, etc. He really became my friend. He used to tell me to hurry up and get married to someone cool so we could spend vacations together and stuff! But, with the age gap between us, we are always at different points in our life and it makes it harder to connect. My kids are little, his kids are gone, so our paths don't connect in the same ways right now. And yet, I love him dearly and he's always been the model of what a man should be in my eyes. I absolutely adored my father, and he was my hero, but I never expected to find another someone like him...he was one in a million. But my brother is a real, day to day version of someone I can emulate and teach my children to be like. There are so few positive male role models for kids...I am truly blessed for my children to have their wonderful father, my brother, and their grandfathers to give them direction.

Dennis is more like my mother than dad, yet I see signs of dad here and there all the time. Maybe because I'm always looking for pieces of my father....I miss him so much. Dennis is funny, a little sappy, and very smart. You can ask him about most subjects and he'll know all kinds of things....he's one of those people who's opinions you like to draw from.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, big brother.....I'm thinking of you.