Birthdays and Brothers

I have three brothers, I love them dearly.  Their birthdays are within a few weeks of each other. 

Jason's was July 13th he is just younger than me, then Ben's was July 1st, he is the baby.  And Eric's (aka Rico) is August 2nd.  That would have been today. It is exactly midnight and I have officially missed his birthday.  So what's a very remorseful sister supposed to do?   She does a midnight post for her beloved brother.

Rico I am so sorry...We've had a very busy day and I have hardly been home.  In fact we just got home about 20 minutes ago.  (We went and saw Batman...so good!)  I thought about you all day and I hope you know how much we love you.  I have so many great pictures of you it's hard to pick through them all, especially at this hour, so this is the one I found that means a lot to me.  It is me and Evelynne smooching you.

Do you remember this day? I'm sure you remember it a little differently than I do. 

You probably remember placing second in the entire state after working your whole high school career to be number one.  We were all there to support you.  Mom flew Ev and I to Portland from Utah just to be there for you.  Jason was living there so he was there.  Ben was also wrestling in the tournament so of course he was there too.  We watched you dominate your competition throughout the tournament. Then came that semi final round.  I will never forget it. The entire coliseum was on there feet watching you wrestle that very un-sportsman like character.  He was such a jerk, but you kept your cool.  Although it was a very close match, you beat him fair and square.  I can still hear the deafening crowd celebrating your much deserved win.  Our family was standing together in the stands, very close to where your match had taken place.  When the referee declared you the winner you pointed up at us and then ran your sweaty self up to your adoring family so that we could share in your joy.  Thousands of eyes were on you and our family.  I think it was one of our best moments together.

The final match was very painful to watch but the outcome in no way took away from the pride and the love that we felt for you.  We took that picture right after that match. I remember telling you that you it didn't matter what the medal was, you were always going to be number one to us.  That was ten years ago.  You are still number one to me and I still adore you.  You have always been the peacemaker in our family, always looking for ways to help and always looking for ways to take me out.  Headlocks, pinching knees and elbows, and just a plain good ol' take down.  You are a wonderful tio to my girls and such a blessing to our family.

I hope you had a good birthday and even though I flaked on the birthday phone call, it doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about you.  I hope I have redeemed myself with this post.  See you in a couple of weeks!

I Love You!

Jess