A Story About Love
17 years ago, at Christmas, I got a new bike and a baby brother. Today, Jacob turned 17. He celebrated by going out to lunch with us, and now, he's out shooting fireworks with his friends, the Fantastic Four.
My baby brother is the typical "last" child--last because he was the last, for eight years, and because he's the last of the train of siblings that has been locomotoring through the high school since 1999. He's the "rebel," the one who makes the worst grades, the only who's been arrested, the one who started drinking earliest. He's also my sweet boy, the one who can make me laugh no matter what, the one who I call sometimes just for the hell of it.
The other day, Jacob walked in the door, and I knew he had been outside smoking. "Do you smoke?" I said.
"Sometimes," he said. I scolded him.
"You know better than that."
But then, over the course of the next few days, I constantly checked myself, reminded myself that he's only seventeen, that he's at the age where he's supposed to do stupid things, reminding myself that I was doing stupid things [letting boys take topless pictures of me in public parks, dating Chris Fox, etc] when I was his age too. I had to remind myself of the things I've been taught thus far in school, one being that teenage rebellion and experimentation is normal.
I also remind myself that, while Jacob isn't the smartest, he has lots of other things going for him. He may have made a D in Algebra, but he also has shown an extreme amount of dedication in learning to teach himself the guitar. Yeah, maybe he's been arrested, but he always can be convinced to make the family a pitcher of tea. And he's never once complained when I come home and kick him out of his room. In fact, he always asks if I'm staying longer.
And when he came in the other day, he told me that he had given the rest of his cigarettes to a co-worker.
When I walk with him, I can't help remembering that my brother, my sweetest baby-faced brother, is often a giant among mortals. Literally, as he is the tallest of all of us, but often figuratively too.
Happy Birthday, my (almost) New Year's boy.
My baby brother is the typical "last" child--last because he was the last, for eight years, and because he's the last of the train of siblings that has been locomotoring through the high school since 1999. He's the "rebel," the one who makes the worst grades, the only who's been arrested, the one who started drinking earliest. He's also my sweet boy, the one who can make me laugh no matter what, the one who I call sometimes just for the hell of it.
The other day, Jacob walked in the door, and I knew he had been outside smoking. "Do you smoke?" I said.
"Sometimes," he said. I scolded him.
"You know better than that."
But then, over the course of the next few days, I constantly checked myself, reminded myself that he's only seventeen, that he's at the age where he's supposed to do stupid things, reminding myself that I was doing stupid things [letting boys take topless pictures of me in public parks, dating Chris Fox, etc] when I was his age too. I had to remind myself of the things I've been taught thus far in school, one being that teenage rebellion and experimentation is normal.
I also remind myself that, while Jacob isn't the smartest, he has lots of other things going for him. He may have made a D in Algebra, but he also has shown an extreme amount of dedication in learning to teach himself the guitar. Yeah, maybe he's been arrested, but he always can be convinced to make the family a pitcher of tea. And he's never once complained when I come home and kick him out of his room. In fact, he always asks if I'm staying longer.
And when he came in the other day, he told me that he had given the rest of his cigarettes to a co-worker.
When I walk with him, I can't help remembering that my brother, my sweetest baby-faced brother, is often a giant among mortals. Literally, as he is the tallest of all of us, but often figuratively too.
Happy Birthday, my (almost) New Year's boy.
posted by Another Chance to Get It Right at
8:24 PM
1 Comments:
Hey, I like the new "theme". Any chance you can make the entry font a touch bigger or make the entry text white and the title text black so it doesn't dance on the page though?
~Jacob
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