Day 15: A person you admire

I've been really looking forward to doing this days challenge. I would tell you how great my Mom is and how strong of a woman she is. I could tell you how much I miss my Dad and that he was my role model. I write about my Grandma Wallace and how she taught me to cook and was always sassy and spoke her mind. But I'm going to tell you about my brother.

In 1983 my brother's life drastically changed. He had been an only child for 13 years and for some reason (or so I'm told) very much wanted a baby sister. Well, his wishes came true one spring day as my parents prayers were answered! I'm told that my brother would get up with me in the middle of the night and feed me bottles. Word on the street is that he would sing to me and would always volunteer to babysit. Most teenagers would want to pretend they didnt have a 4 year old sister but I remember riding to the Sonic with my brother on a Saturday night to get a milkshake. I know it was summer and I know it was dark and his friends were all there. I was his accessory. From a young age my mother taught me how to dazzle a crowd and his friends thought I was awesome! (or so i like to remember). Maybe he was just using me to pick up girls., whatever the reason, I just loved hanging out with my big brother.

He went off to college when I was 5. I remember how excited I would get when he would come home and surprise me in the car pick up line after school!! A quick trip to the sonic and then we would hang out all weekend. Into his twenties he would still hang out with me when he came home. We would play Nintendo and watch SNICK and SNL. He would help me with my school projects and I think he enjoyed it.

When I was 13 my brother moved to Savannah to go to SCAD and become an interior designer. I remember when he moved in and my parents and I made our first trip here. I was 13 and thought I was hot shit. I loved to come visit Savannah and walk around, he had opened up a new world for me. He stayed in Savannah and finished his masters as I entered High School. My junior year he moved home to start his own business. My friends and I would go to his house after school and hang out with him. He was and still is funny and sarcastic and would inquire about how many boyfriends I had on a given week.

He is married now and has kids. We live in the same town and see each other regularly. We still joke and he still asks how many boyfriends I have on a given week, still. We arent as close as I wish we were. I think he feels like he has to take care of me since our Dad passed away. Somedays I think he still sees me as a 5 year old who talks too much. But I admire my brother because he is a talented designer and successful entrepreneur. I admire the kind of Dad he is to his kids.I admire that he is humble in his success. He inherited our grandmother's cooking abilities and loves to cook for his coworkers and family. I admire the fact that I value his opinion above anyone else's and I want his input on everything. If there is a big decision to be made in my life I always say, "let me call my brother and see what he thinks". As busy as he is he always has time to talk to me. If I'm ever in trouble I know I can count on him to help me out.

I wish we were closer all the time. But he is so busy and I understand that.  He is probably going to hate the fact that I wrote about him. He will hate even more if I post a photo of him when we were younger (he is weird like that, I thought his fro was SWEET!) I'm debating if I even want him to read this or not. The blog challenge asked me who I admired most and my brother is the person that I admire and when people tell how alike we are because we do x,y, or z the same...it makes my day!

and now here is one photo so he has something to yell at me for!