my brother

My little brother turned 25 yesterday. So, Happy Birthday little brother! ...Little, heh.

My brother and I are 1 year, 11 months, and 1 day apart. So, we spent a lot of time together growing up. Legend has it that I didn't much care for the kid when he first showed up on my scene. I refused to call him Michael and only called him "that baby" for a little longer than my mother would have liked.

But, it didn't take too long for me to figure out that he was pretty good at playing pretend. And when my older sister wouldn't let me play with her and her teenage friends, I could usually get Michael to keep me company.

I was trying to remember my first memory of Michael - and its hard because I don't really have any memories of him not being there. Over our childhood, we spent time being best friends, mortal enemies, treasure hunters, co-conspirators, ghost catchers, animal adopters, and most of the time oscillating between playing and fighting - both equally as hard. :)

one of my favorite memories is this. My dad was gone to conference for a day or so and my mom was home with us, but was sick. So, Michael and I were playing on our own. I was about 8 and he was 6ish. We decided we were hungry, so I asked mom if I could walk up to the corner store. I'm pretty sure I remember her saying ok - but I'm not entirely sure she was awake. So, Michael and I set out to walk to the local Circle K (remember those?) I had a few coins in my pocket, and I was going to treat Michael to some candy. It was summer, so we didn't bother with shoes.

We get to the store, and I'm showing Michael the things we can get for a quarter. Mostly jawbreakers or bubble gum. Michael turns and sees the rotating hot dog carousel on the counter and asks, "Laura, can I have one of those?" I walk up to him and say "Michael, we can't afford one of those, we don't have enough money"

Well, at this point, we've caught the attention of the cashier lady, who asks "kids, where are your parents?" I look up and tell her (in my southern accent) "Well, daddy left and took the car and mama's home sick"

...remember, we're barefoot.

She looks at us and says "you can have all the hotdogs you want"

And so Michael and I sat on the curb eating hot dogs and watching the cars go by.

partners in crime.

So - I just want to give a shout out to my little, not so little, brother. He's an amazing dude and has a heart of gold. Anybody who knows him will attest to that. I miss him a lot - but always look forward to silly antics when we get together.

Here are some pictures of the little dude over the years.

Happy Birthday Michael, love you!