My Kid Brother

My kid brother got married last weekend and it was an exceptional wedding. I was honoured to be asked to share a few words about him and had been informed the day before that the bride’s brothers would be giving her a roasting so I should do the same. Unfortunately I blew my chance to say most of what I’ve written below as I got caught up in wanting to be funny at mostly his expense and the few positives I did share were lost in ill taste.

To set the record straight, my brother has grown up to be an incredible young(ish) man and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without him. Here’s just a few stories from our childhood that reflect the person he has become with age.

The block is ours, sort of…

We grew up in a fantastic neighborhood with a load of kids roughly our age living within a block of our house. As kids do we waged war on each other before we ultimately became friends. One day a water balloon fight got a little out of hand (as they will….) and the water guns were swapped for first verbal insults and then physical ones. Slightly outnumbered, and slightly outaged, my brother stood by my side as the pushing became fiercer and at one point in time a ninja star was brought out.

I kid you not, a real ninja star. I’m pretty sure I was on the verge of pissing my pants when the altercation miraculously calmed down and just a few days later we all became friends. Heck, one of the guys involved in some of these pre-friend skirmishes even officiated the wedding. Regardless, despite all of the times my brother and disagreed with each other, got on each other’s nerves, thought ill of each other, he continually had my back when times got tough. Family always came first for my brother, and I know that will never change.

Go big, or go home

As cheesy as the slogan has come to be, my brother was the jedi master of ensuring nothing worth doing was ever done to a small scale. This applied to all recreational pursuits, we learned to surf together, skateboard together, rock climb together, you name the extreme sport and we likely did it together with a few exceptions. I for one, was not a naturally courageous boy. I remain a hater of spiders and planes though I can pick a spider up and put it outside (except those pesky poisonous ones) and fly a few times a year. My ability to mostly control these fears was born from being pushed by my brother to tackle them. If he did it, I’d hide my fear and do it too, mostly begrudgingly and always thankful after.

Which leads us to how I got to where I am now. At 18 my brother elected to put his studies on hold and headed to the UK to pursue his dream of being a professional footballer. For three years he played with teams ranging from Sheffield United to Dundee. I honestly believe he would have made it into the first team of a good club if he hadn’t injured his hip. Treatment for his injury took a lot longer than expected and by the time I’d finished University and set out to attempt to make it in the UK for myself, he’d decided to hang up his professional boots and focus on coaching back in the US instead (where he is now carving a name for himself). I wouldn’t have pursued the dream myself if my brother hadn’t paved the way. This has been the greatest adventure of my life and ultimately led to meeting my incredible wife. I can never say thank you enough for continuing to push us.

A thousand miles wide

Not many people know that my brother struggled with learning difficulties growing up, he had too much pride to to ask for help so he didn’t let on. While he was always good at figuring out puzzles, it took him a lot longer to read through and complete assignments. Given that, you’d not hold it against him if after stopping playing soccer he just focused on getting his coaching licenses and lived a happy life doing what he enjoys most outside forever.

But that’s not my brother. Ever the one to prove people wrong, ontop of working full time he was making progress towards his degree and a few weeks before he got married he graduated, and in a few more years I’m ecstatic to say he’ll have his masters.

Drew, I couldn’t be prouder of the person you’ve grown to be if I tried. I couldn’t have asked for a better brother or better best man. Sorry I didn’t speak from the heart at your wedding as you did mine.

And like the man said…

You see, the difference between hard and impossible
Well, it’s a thousand miles wide
But that’s not what you want to hear
Don’t live a lifetime of regret
Is there a moment of uncomfort
Never knowing, no, no, never knowing
How great it feels to be free