Scooteroo

I'm sure I've mentioned more than once on here that I have a big brother.  In most of the obvious ways, we are night and day.  He's always been a daredevil; I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat.  He's a boundry-tester; I'm a strict adherer to the rules.  He's hard rock; I'm bluegrass and jazz.

Needless today, a very large portion of our lives was spent at least a little at odds.  We are 2.5 years apart (and only 2 grades in school), so we were close enough to clash over friends and coolness frequently.  And then during our college and post-college years, we had moments of really connecting and moments of "forced friendship".

A month or so ago, I was chatting with one of Drew's graduated students and he was saying he needed to go spend some time with his brother.  Then he said, "I don't know why I bother.  We have NOTHING in common and he doesn't make ANY effort."

I was so glad to be able to say that I knew EXACTLY what that kind of brotherly-relation ship felt like.  I told him that my brother and I went through years of that, but that I am SO GLAD that one or the other always MADE the interaction happen occassionally because now, when our lives have become much more similar than dissonant, we very easily slipped into being close friends.

NOW, we're both parents of 3 year olds (born exactly 4 months apart, to the day).  We're both married.  We both have had struggled through unhappy work situations (and now we both have found better jobs).  We struggle through many of the same things in life, we find the same things funny, we cheer on the same football team (ROLL TIDE!), and we both LOVE our lives and try to stay focused on the joys our families bring us. 

We still listen to different music and he's still WAY more *ahem* BALSY than I am, BUT he's one of my best friends.  We talk regularly, whether it's about what to do when X happens with one of the girls or just to check in and say, "I was thinking about you and wanted to tell you that I love you!" 

I'm so glad that we always made the effort to keep a little in touch and I'm even MORE glad that we have grown so close.  (And I am VERY glad that I will be seeing him for a whole WEEK very, very soon!)

Love you, Scooteroo!

Love & Shipoopies,
Leslie