Day 4: Did You Know I Have a Brother?

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Today, I was watching a football game with some friends, and a 16-year-old picture of my little brother flashed on the screen. It was just for a second, but my husband and I both spotted him and said something, which resulted in a minute or two of stopping, rewinding, playing again, screen grabbing. As a few of us were having fun with grabbing his mug off the tube, one good friend got hung up on a little detail:

"I didn't know you had a brother!"

Not, "I didn't know your brother played football," or "I didn't know he was a quarterback," - it was a full fledged denial of his very existence.

Oops.

I DO have a brother, and our lives are lived more or less on top of each other - sharing circles of people, but rarely the same circle. I assume, because we grew up here kind of as a pair, that everyone knows him...or at least knows about him. Turns out, I do have a brother, and I like him very much.

Brother, I like you because you are true. As brilliant and sufficient and successful as you are, your dependency on Christ shows through in everything you do. You are funny and fun-loving. You are disciplined and focused. I love to see you in conversation with other people - the way your face lights up and your hereditary big eyebrows animate. I like your ability to focus on a topic in spite of the rest of us chasing rabbits - you ground us, but you dream too. I like that someday, we may actually take over the world with you at the helm.

You are a sweet, dedicated husband and a great dad, raising strong and sensitive boys. I like being around you with them, and I like seeing how your demeanor is different with your nieces. Must be weird for you to see three little Amys running around, but you seem to have overcome your flashbacks. I like the rare occasions that we get to play together, and how it reminds me of growing up with you as my primary playmate.

I think you're a cool guy, and I love you. But I want you to know that I like you, too. And I'll stop keeping you a secret.

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Now... who do you need to tell?




This post is part of a 31 day writing challenge. 
You can find links to the rest of the posts in the series here.

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