by Ang
I thought it would be fun to do a series of posts and focus on each member of my immediate family (mom, dad, brother, sister, Grandma). I think about my family now more than ever and I don’t tell them often enough how much they mean to me.
I’m going to start with my brother. He’s almost 4.5 years younger than me, and honestly we didn’t get really close until after Amy got married and moved out of the house. I think this was because I fought with both of them until Amy moved out….then I magically got really close to each of them! It’s that 3-kids dynamic I think. Or something. I’m not sure, but I think I got a good deal. Amy and I became closer than ever and Andrew and I got pretty close too.
I remember when my brother was born. Amy and I were at the neighbor’s house because my mom and dad were at the hospital. I was sitting on their living room floor watching Sesame Street and the phone rang and I heard my sister say ‘a boy?’ and then the neighbor started yelling and jumping up and down. I had little to no reaction. It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited to have a new sibling, but at not quite 4 ½, I had more important things on my mind. Like Sesame Street.
And then when they came home from the hospital and I held him for the first time I remember thinking how big he was and I couldn’t get over it. How was I going to carry around this giant baby? He was so much bigger than my dolls. I didn’t understand why my mother would give birth to a giant baby. (he actually WAS a big baby, over 9 pounds).
He was an extremely cute baby. He looked exactly like nephew #2 (and still does). He was smiley and roly poly.
I’m going to start with my brother. He’s almost 4.5 years younger than me, and honestly we didn’t get really close until after Amy got married and moved out of the house. I think this was because I fought with both of them until Amy moved out….then I magically got really close to each of them! It’s that 3-kids dynamic I think. Or something. I’m not sure, but I think I got a good deal. Amy and I became closer than ever and Andrew and I got pretty close too.
I remember when my brother was born. Amy and I were at the neighbor’s house because my mom and dad were at the hospital. I was sitting on their living room floor watching Sesame Street and the phone rang and I heard my sister say ‘a boy?’ and then the neighbor started yelling and jumping up and down. I had little to no reaction. It wasn’t that I wasn’t excited to have a new sibling, but at not quite 4 ½, I had more important things on my mind. Like Sesame Street.
And then when they came home from the hospital and I held him for the first time I remember thinking how big he was and I couldn’t get over it. How was I going to carry around this giant baby? He was so much bigger than my dolls. I didn’t understand why my mother would give birth to a giant baby. (he actually WAS a big baby, over 9 pounds).
He was an extremely cute baby. He looked exactly like nephew #2 (and still does). He was smiley and roly poly.
I blame him for my hatred of cottage cheese. I’ll spare you the details, because it’s disgusting, but from the time I was about 6 I could no longer eat cottage cheese and still can’t today.
When he got older and actually wanted to play, the tomboy in me came out. We played cars with all of his Hot Wheels. He had a TON of them, plus a super cool Hot Wheels garage (that has since been passed to my parents and nephew #2 plays with it.). We used to play in his room and during the summer we would play outside on the picnic table. It was so much fun.
We played cards too. Mostly Uno. We would use the entire deck. His hands were smaller than mine, so he would have to line all of his cards up behind one of the end tables and they would go all the way into the dining room (so I couldn’t see what he had).
He had this poster that had a picture of every helmet in the NFL on it. He taught me all of the teams and then would quiz me on them. Thanks to him, I can now name every professional football team just by looking at their helmet.
I let him drive with me when he got his learner’s permit, much to my parents horror. We would leave the house (with me driving) and then when we got out of sight of our house, we’d switch seats.
He knows every movie line. On family vacations in the car, we would quiz each other on movie lines. I’ll never forget the one time I actually stumped him. I still remember the line: “If this is a severed head, I’m going to be very upset”. It drove him nuts and he finally gave in and I had to tell him the answer. (Do you still remember it, Andrew?)
He was fun to be around, especially as a teenager, and all of my friends just loved him. I remember taking a trip to Kansas City with him and some friends. And one year for our family vacation we went to Arkansas to see my grandparents. My parents let one of my friends come along, and I think it was the funnest (yes, I know that’s not a word) family vacation that I remember. And we went to New York one year too, and I’m so glad that he was there. It was our parents, some friends of theirs and me and him. It was nice to have him there to hang out with.
He also came to California with me to visit our Aunt & Uncle. It was just him and I, and we had a lot of fun on that trip also.
He’s REALLY fun to be around now as an adult. He’s funny and keeps us laughing. He’s giving of himself and his time (he generously offered to come with me and drive my moving van when I moved to New Mexico. He put up with my howling cats in the hotel room, stopping a million times for me to pee and clean out my car, drove through the scary weather in Colorado, and then he drove my moving van all the way back to Nebraska).
He got married to the perfect girl for him, who I love. Who we ALL love.
And then they proceeded to have the cutest baby girl in the world, who are whole family is just ga-ga over. As my friend Megan put it, she’s the ‘mascot’ of our family.
I think that if every person could have a sister AND a brother, they are blessed. I am very fortunate to have both, and I’m very fortunate that we are all close. I only wish I could see him more, but thankfully we have the phone, texting and email, so he really is just a few buttons away!
Next up: Mom
I think that if every person could have a sister AND a brother, they are blessed. I am very fortunate to have both, and I’m very fortunate that we are all close. I only wish I could see him more, but thankfully we have the phone, texting and email, so he really is just a few buttons away!
Next up: Mom
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