Gratitude Letter #12
To my brother
Dear Eric,
I probably don’t thank you enough (/ever) — although I’m much nicer to you now than I was say, 14 years ago. But being nice to you doesn’t cut it. You deserve the biggest of thanks. Not for one thing, in particular, but for all the things. For being a unrelentingly supportive husband to my sister; for being a loving and engaged father to my favorite nephew; and for being the brother I never wanted, but now can’t imagine ever having.
You deserve the biggest of thanks… for all the things.
You’ve been my brother, technically speaking, for nearly 10 years. And before you married my sister and became legally my brother, you were there for a long, hard, six years. By my calculations, we’ve been family for nearly half my life.
And I wonder, short of in my wedding toast nearly 10 years ago, have I ever truly taken the time to thank you? For putting up with my sister, and me, and my parents. For always proof reading what I needed proof read. For the inappropriate jokes (what was it that you said today, he came inside? — on the pitch! on the pitch!). For the unsolicited advice. For being a shining example of a man who loves his wife, his family, his country, his God. For reminding me, especially in those dark hours where I really didn’t think there was any way to trust again, that the good guys do exist.
And I wonder, short of in my wedding toast nearly 10 years ago, have I ever truly taken the time to thank you?
It struck me in talking to you today, as it often does, how much compassion and love is in your voice when you speak of my sister; how patient and caring you are with your son. I know they’re safe with you and that means the world to me, because besides Bailey, those guys are my #1. I am grateful every day when I think of Soren that he has you as an example and role model. You’re not perfect (far from!) but you’re not so bad, either. If he grows up to be half the man you are (obviously we’re speaking figuratively, not literally), we’ll all be pretty lucky.
I was proud, way back when, when you started dating Christina. I had this misguided belief that you were cool, and it made me feel cool to talk to you, to walk down the high school halls with you. I looked up to you (again, figuratively) as a mentor on newspaper staff, secretly wanting to make you proud of me. And I was proud on the day you married my sister, you at all of 23 and surely with little idea what a marriage, a partnership, would entail. And I’m proud now, all these years later, of the way you’ve respected, supported and loved Christina every day since.
As I said, I never wanted a brother — never really thought about it, since I had a sister. (Especially since at times I for sure didn’t even want a sister!) But I never want to imagine a life where I don’t have a brother. You’ve made me a better person, our family happier and my sister one of the luckiest gals around.
So, for the first time in 10 years: thanks.
That says it all, and of course, none of it. In ten more years, I’ll say it again. But know I mean it, everyday.
Thanks for just being EWY. ❤
shameless plug: if you’d like to help me in an effort to REALLY show my gratitude towards the best big bro I’ve got, consider making a gift to his amazing type 1 diabetes research campaign: http://www.30kfor30.com
