**My 21-year-old brother, Tim, is serving in the AirForce--currently stationed in Iraq. My other brother, Andrew, is eleven-years-old, and taking the Middle School scene by storm... I would have written to them yesterday, but my evening filled unexpectedly. So, here is the Thursday edition of Write-a-Letter Wednesday**
Dear Brothers,
Maybe you don't care at all what your big sister has to say about you. But I brag about you all the time. I talk about you at work; I share stories with my friends; and--not so secretly--I'm a little hopeful my first baby is a boy, and that he's just like the brothers I love so much.
Tim: you were everything a younger sibling should have been. You made fun of my clothes and hair. You hit me when mom wasn't looking. And do you remember that time I tried to show you my new dress pants and you peed on them?... Trust me. It happened.
But we had some moments where we were a good team, too. (And I don't just mean the times we were at Indiana Beach.) I remember building with K'nex and Legos long after we were supposed to be asleep. There were road trips where we would get slap-happy, and Mom would threaten our lives if we didn't stop laughing. Of course, that just made it even funnier. And I hope you know--if you're planning anymore flights over the neighbor's fence--you still can count on me to throw my weight on the other side of the teeter-totter when you say, "Go."
Honestly, I never would have fancied you a military man, when we were building bike ramps in the alley and spending our dimes at VP. But I am very, very proud of you.
Drew: You won't understand how I feel about you until you have children of your own someday. That's what you were to me: my baby. You were a living doll for me to dress and feed and bathe, and I LOVED filling your mind with all the facts it could handle. You tried to be an annoying little brother. (The first time Luke ever visited our house, you told him, "My sister is on a crush with you!" and then ran away giggling.) But I was rarely angry with you. Instead, you fascinated me with how clever you were.
You must have been two years old when Dad and I heard you humming several songs from Zelda--perfectly on key. And, around the age of five, you opened my cardoor and said, "After you m'lady." Do you remember when we used to have "cuddle parties" in the playroom? I bribed you and Tabby with pizza and a movie, but my favorite part was curling up on the daybed in a little human pile....
Both of you are funny, and you know it. You're quirky, but it suits you well. And both of you have sweet and sensitive sides, too. My prayer is that you will take your attractive personalities and use them to show the world what it means to be real, upstanding men. But, to do that, you must be willing to do what's "hard" and not just what feels good. That means putting away boyish things like toys and games, in favor of getting jobs and protecting your families some day. It means learning there are more important things in life than what you "want" or even what you "need." And it means using your minds to ask tough questions instead of accepting everything the world tells you is true.
At some point, you'll need to wonder, "Why am I here?" and "What am I supposed to do now?" But I want you to know I'm here to talk about those things, if you want... Or, if you just want to build with Legos or play a little Zelda, I'm here for that, too.
I can't wait to see what else God has in store for both of you, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it.
I love you so, so much!
~Big Sis~
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