My big brother

November has been such a crazy month for our family.  We have had a wedding (the second since September), five birthdays, a 25th wedding anniversary, along with Thanksgiving festivities all in one single month.  Whew - it took a lot out of me just to type that.

One of the big events we celebrated was my brother's 60th birthday. I wanted to blog about him during his birthday week, but I just couldn't fit it in.  So even though a little late, I wanted to squeeze this one in during his birthday month.

Some thoughts on my big brother.

I love my brother. He is my only sibling.  I call him my big brother because he is four years older than me.  I like him as well as love him.

I don't remember a lot about our relationship when we were small children, but I think four years is a lot when you are younger.  I am pretty sure that we just lived our lives separately in the same home.  His world was full of sports, Boy Scouts, sports, and his friends.  Notice sports is put down twice - always important to my brother.  Still is.  My world was full of Barbie dolls, Brownies and Girl Scouts, and my friends.  I am sure I was probably a pain in the rear to him during those years.

And then he became a teenager, and I was right behind.  Watching and learning.  In the late 60's, as his hair grew longer, his cool quotient went up,  and as his interest in music grew stronger, I became  a follower of my brother.  He was very cool.  He still is.  He brought interesting (and cute) friends home, exposed me to incredible music at home or on his 8 track player in his Nova, and even took me along to some concerts.

During this time he began to perfect his musical skills which came so naturally to him.  I took tortured piano lessons for 11 years and can play a respectable  "Nothing but the Blood" and the theme from "Hill Street Blues."  Bob took for three months and can sit down and play anything. The same with the guitar. I am not bitter just really jealous.
OK - a little bitter.

From this period of our life, I remember many stories - several that my brother loves to tell on me.  Like the time the Sundown Collection, a local rock band, won a national battle of the bands contest. I went airborne with excitement, landing on the couch which broke upon my subsequent landing.  Or the time when moving to Fort Worth from  Illinois in a caravan of two cars.  Dad was in the front car and did not believe in stopping.  I had to use the bathroom so bad - I kept telling mother, but she wouldn't stop for fear of losing my dad. Finally the moment came - I could wait no longer. I squeezed my legs together as tightly as possible and let it flow.  I had a perfect little reservoir of pee between my legs.  Bob is hysterically laughing, yelling "Don't let go!"  But just how long can you hold pee between your legs?  Oh, he has loved telling that story through the years.

I could go on and on with many more stories...but what I really want to say is this.

My brother is my hero.  There are so many things that I admire, respect, and love about him.
So here goes...a few of the many of things I love about my big brother.

1.  He is a person of great passion.  Whether the focus is sports, music, most certainly his family, or his work, he is a passionate follower, supporter, participant, leader.  He doesn't invest emotionally in small ways in the things he loves - he commits totally and completely.
2.  One of the things he is passionate about is Jesus.  He loves Jesus and has dedicated his life in making him known and relevant to the young people in his life.
3.  Even though he has been a youth pastor for the last 35 + years, he stays committed to his calling and approaches it with a freshness and an energy that baffles me.  Again, that passion inside him continues to fuel him and his ministry.
4.  He is an awesome husband and father.  He dearly and unselfishly loves his family.
5. He is one of the most un60ish people I know.  His biological age does not fit him at all.  In some crazy way, he remains ageless.  I hope he redefines what 60 can be about for all of us.

I could go on and on, but it all boils down to this.  My brother is an original.  Someone I continue to look up to.  A man who has  positively influenced countless young people.  The greatest uncle to my kids.  An amazing person.

I am grateful for my big brother.   I am proud to be his sister.

May your 60's be good to you, brother.

Love to all of you out there or no one whichever fits. J

Happy 25th Anniversary!

Today Soulmate and I have been married for 25 years.  A quarter of a century full of all that life has to offer. We've experienced the most joyous times and those events of great pain and loss.  We look back with wonder at how God has provided for us through it all.

Soulmate is the great love of my life.

So for our anniversary, Soulmate, I share the words of one of my favorite poems.  What I don't have the words to express, e.e. cumings says for me...

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)e. e. cumings i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I look forward to carrying you in my heart for the next 25 years.

Love to all of you out there or no one - whichever fits. J

Hey all you monkeys out there - this is my girl!

When La was a little girl, she loved it when I would cuddle with her.  Part of our cuddling routine involved me shouting out as if to an audience "Hey all you monkeys out there - this is my girl!" She would smile and giggle.  She never got tired of it.

Just a silly little saying that came to my mind one day that made her feel special.

A little love ritual between mother and beloved daughter.

That little tow headed girl loved her mama and her mama loved her.  The love was fierce and for a period was the love that sustained their little family of two.  Even as a small one, her little heart loved deeply and thoroughly.

Then Soulmate and Jam joined our little family, and love wasn't divided but multiplied as it miraculously does.  Our little family eventually expanded by two more with Al and Ty.  La opened her heart to all.  She loved her family completely, but she still enjoyed that special connection with her mama.

Even though we didn't "tell the monkeys" as often who she was - she still knew she was my girl! 

This weekend that little tow headed girl transformed into a beautiful, radiant bride.  She became the wife of her very own Soulmate.  All of that tremendous capacity of love that she has inside of her now has a very worthy recipient.  She so deserves the love her Soulmate has given her.  I couldn't be happier for both of them.

So one more time.  Just so she will always know.

It may seem silly to some.
But I know one who will savor it.

"Hey all you monkeys out there - this beautiful bride is my girl!"

Love to all of you out there or no one - whichever fits. J

Green Eggs and Ham Revisited

Thank you to the following for submitting their favorite children's books:

Jammie - Corduroy
Megan - The Giving Tree
Allie - The Lorax
Robin -The Secret Garden
Soulmate -The Cat in the Hat


A copy of each of these books has been donated to the Union Gospel Mission Children's Library.  One of your favorite children's book may become the favorite book of one of the homeless children in our community.

Thank you for sharing.

Love to you five...and all of you out there or no one - which ever fits.  J
      

Happy Birthday Soulmate!

Today is Soulmate's birthday!  Isn't he handsome?

Today, I am no longer the older woman.  Every year for almost a month, I am older than him.  For that month he loves to tell people that he is married to an older woman. I am just happy to be married to him regardless of age.

Here we are exactly the same age before I became the older woman in his life this year.  I will age considerably three months after this picture was taken.  It will last about a month.  I will not allow any pictures taken of me during the older woman time.  Just kidding.

No, really I am serious. No pictures.

Happy birthday to my best friend, my soulmate, my husband! Have a wonderful birthday.
Love from your no longer older woman   xoxo

Love to all of you out there or no one - whichever fits. J