The truth is, I can't remember life without my brother Brad. He was born not quite 13 months after me -- on November 22nd -- (and now that I totally understand what it is to have a baby, I think my mom was either crazy or super-mom...), so Brad's always just been there.
As siblings do, we've had our close times and our not-so-close times. But mostly we've been close.
And hopefully I don't embarrass him with some of my memories. I don't think I will. But you just never know.
So, I don't remember this, but according to my dad, I was kind of like Brad's security blanket when we were little kids. I guess he figured he was safe as long as I was around. The only evidence I've seen that this is true is on an old family video of our birthday party (I was turning 3 and he 2, I believe). He'd been hanging around me, and then I walked away. He started to look really sad and uncertain, and my dad ended up calling him over. I don't know if Brad was feeling scared because I left or not, but my dad says that was the case.
I remember feeling protective of Brad when we were growing up. His first day of kindergarten was a hard one for him -- because he didn't go to pre-school, and had never been away from my mom. As such, he cried a lot and made himself sick. I don't remember a lot of details about that, but I know I was distraught over the whole thing.
Of course, I also remember slapping him to make sure "all the laughs were out of" him (so we could sneak downstairs and spy on my dad watching TV). Just FYI -- all the laughs were not out of him until the 4th or 5th slap. (Yes, yes, apparently I was a cruel sister...).
And I remember the time he tried to squeeze gak through the holes of a cotton blanket because his friend Tommy had done so with his nylon football jersey (the results were not consistent...). And being the awesome sister I am, I laughed at him until he was so mad he kicked me out of his room... until I threatened to tell our dad. (Good news: the gak came out in the wash).
I remember Brad being friends with a kid at church I had a major crush on, and so Brad would invite him to come over and spend the night. (Yes, this was a time when I actually told him about my crush -- and he was a good brother... he kept it on the DL).
And I remember there came a day when my "little" brother wasn't so little anymore. So I had to stop calling him that. He's now taller than I am. And stronger too. I learned that lesson during one of our teenage-years fights... And he learned that a Physiology book is pretty hefty and not a fun thing to get smacked with. Hmmm... I should have been nicer.
Sometimes, when Brad was stationed overseas (like in Turkey), he would call me in his free time. And that meant a lot to me.
Brad has an ability to make me laugh like no one else. And it's always with the stupidest stuff ever. Like years ago, when we lived in Panama, there was this stuff called MILO, and it was a type of chocolate malt mix. And it didn't seem to mix in very well -- it always had this thick layer of the stuff floating on top of the milk. And so one day, Brad spooned some up and said, "Hey, you want a bite of my MILO?" And I don't know why that was even funny, but it hilarious. And we still laugh about it. So when I saw a can of it at Wal-Mart in Dothan while we were down there, I totally took a cell phone picture and sent it to him with that quote.
Brad also had an annoying tendency to make up lyrics to songs. Annoying lyrics. For a short time, he was always inserting the word "phone" into the song -- and it irritated me. For example, Chris Isaac's song "Somebody's Cryin'"... Brad would sing, "So please... Return the [phone] you took from me." He thought it was hilarious. Probably more because it irritated me than anything else.
And I know that I was really glad that Brad was right there to start a new high school with me when we moved to Dothan before my Senior year. I had someone to eat lunch with, and so did he. We didn't feel quite so alone in a new school.
So, honestly, the list could go on. Thirtysomething (yikes! are we really that old?) years will do that for you... I just love my "little" brother. And I'm grateful for him. Even though I probably haven't taken the time to really tell him that lately. He has added a lot of fun to my life. And I appreciate him and the closeness we've shared over the years. I miss him living close. And I wish I'd have taken advantage more of when he was here. But I'm still grateful for the memories -- and the hope of being able to make many more.
Happy Birthday, Bradymus. You rock.
What are you grateful for today?
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