Having a Brother

Y'know, having a brother like mine is a privilege. For a guy who used to boss me around, torment the hell out of me, straight punch me on the shoulder, and defend me to the end, he turned out to be one hell of a nice guy. Bro was just here for 5 days. When my friends found out he was coming, they asked me what the heck we were going to do, I said,"we're going to scratch where it itches, belch, fart, drink a lot of beer, and watch dirty movies." Well, we did the first four, but NO dirty movies. But we did visit. A lot! We had a chance to really have some good discussions about memories from home. We got out Mom's detailed notebook about the family tree, along with a geneology study by a cousin of ours. We discussed Dad, who has been gone almost 40 years now, and recalled fond memories. Even some not-so-fond memories.
Bro listened to me whine about living alone. He offered some sage advice, (after all he is older than me) and basically was a good listener and a shoulder to cry on. He was amazed by my cooking ability (so was I) and if it was horrible, managed to keep a straight face, and didn't gag!
We laughed a lot. We cried some. We ate a lot, visited old friends, and just spent lots of quality time together. It was wonderful. I hated to see him go home. I can hardly wait until spring break from school, because I plan on going to Texas for a visit. He's going to retire! Amazing! It seems like only yesterday that he was bossing me around, straight punching me in the shoulder. But he is still defending me. He told me he was so proud of me. That made all the difference! I am proud of him, too. He is my rock! You go, big guy!!!
JE