Here's to My Brother: The Grill Master

I have always felt as though sibling relationships are a wonderful mystery. They can be totally different from you, yet so much like you. Even weirder is how much they know about you, even if you don't talk to them or hang out with them that often. They have seen you at your strangest, lowest, dumbest, whiniest, angriest--you can't fool your siblings...they really KNOW you. My younger brother, Casey and I are close. We really always have been. Not close like I run my entire day by him and ask for advice close, but close like, we get each other. My brother and I have a strange sense of humor that only we really understand and it really comes out when we are together. I remember going into his room when I was in high school and sitting on his bed and we would just talk and talk. I remember when I went to college, I sort of lost that connection with him. He went through some changes that I did not understand. I seriously grieved for our relationship, I felt he needed me, but I did not know how to reach out. Thankfully, he went to Baylor and was a freshman when I was a senior. I kept a CLOSE eye on him and things began to get back to normal. He was in a fraternity that I was the Sweetheart of and got to see him all the time. I truly believe God put me in that position to bring us back together. It is something that I am forever thankful to God for.
Anyway, enough of the touchy-feely, let me talk about Casey as I see him! Casey is the life of the party-everywhere he goes- fun is sure to follow. Neither of us really like to do anything if we cannot have the spotlight and a good laugh. He likes to grill for his friends. For some reason, this makes me chuckle every time I picture it. It has turned into his art and when he graduates I think people are going to hold a day of remembrance for him and the grill. He is a good friend...he would lay his life down for his friends. He seems to be guarded in his emotions, which frustrates me, but then, I look at myself and think...I am the exact same way! I wish he wanted to hang out with me more. Alas, I am his older, boring sister. I am OK with that for now. He is having the time of his life in college and hopefully one day, I will be as cool as I was when he used to let me sit in his room and bomabard him with questions about his love life. I sort of feel sorry for whoever he dates...I am TOUGH critic and I speak out about it. My prayer is that he will meet a lovely lady who has a quirky sense of humor and style and I pray most of all that she seeks the Lord in all she does. He deserves that. I love seeing him, being around him and watching him. I am not sure if it is a big sister thing, or what, but I adore him. I often wonder...does he feel the same way? Do I tell him enough--well, no because he would really think I was looney. One of my biggest fears is that when he graduates from college, he will move away and we will lose touch and he will no longer need me. Isn't that sad? I really have a legitimate fear of that. The ultimate picture perfect image I have of us in the future is this: We will live close, he'll get married to the sweetest girl in the world and we will each have lots of little kids playing together in the backyard, I am sitting down telling my dramatic stories, and Casey is grilling us something tasty.