Here is a picture of me with my oldest brother. He is the one that came to visit us this Thanksgiving holiday. I will see my other brother and his family in December, but it will be at his house instead of ours. Growing up I never really appreciated having brothers. I always wanted a sister, and to tell you the truth I felt a bit slighted because a baby girl never appeared in our household. I was always very close to my oldest brother. Since I have been married, he has never forgot to call me on my birthday...even though I forgot to call him once. I think that is pretty good for 20 years of birthdays!I have come to realize that brothers are fun now. This took me several years of revelation. When my middle brother got married, I was only 14. His wife became the sister that I had longed for my entire life. The only dilemma was that he had just joined the Air Force so they moved away from our hometown. He now lives close by the same town that we grew up in, and after the Thanksgiving week at our house I called his wife. They were not able to come and celebrate Thanksgiving with us due to work schedules. I called and lovingly suggested that they host family Christmas this year because I was a bit tired. My sister in law was thrilled at the suggestion. My mother was happy too because she was tired of traveling to Tennessee. Everybody was happy.
We will be visiting them sometime in December to celebrate Christmas with my family and then we will celebrate Christmas with Michael's family. Our families live about 5 minutes away from one another. All we have to do is drive. We haven't been back there for a holiday since my Dad died...so we have missed the last 2 years of celebrations. Our children are excited to see everybody. We will be back home to celebrate our Christmas in our own home with our children. I am looking forward to that as a low key celebration. There is something nice about opening gifts with children while you are still in your pajamas instead of rushing around making sure that the huge dinner is on tract.
My oldest brother will not be attending our Christmas in Ky event. It is too far for him to drive with his work schedule requiring him to be back home quickly. I understand, but I still will miss him. I am thankful for the time spent with him on Thanksgiving. I am also looking forward to this time with my other brother and his family. You see...brothers are FUN once you have grown up to appreciate them...or maybe it is once they have grown up to appreciate you....
grace and peace,
julie
2 comments:
Brothers are nice, aren't they. My brother is the youngest of four - and the only male child (poor kid). I was 16 when he was born so were never very close. However, as we age, we share more and more life experiences. It's nice to have that in common. Thanks for sharing about your relationship. Nice photo, too!
Paula,
My daugher would empathize with your brother's "plight" in life. She is the only daughter of 5 children, and she reminds us of that often. She has learned to take her "lemons" and make lemonaide. She realizes that she is blessed to be the only child with her own room! Enjoy that brother of yours...they are pretty special.
grace and peace,
julie
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