Thankfulness: Day 16

Today I am thankful for my big brother Mike.  I am thankful for so much about him.  Only 12 months apart did NOT make it easy for my parents, especially my Mom.  But being that close in age has brought SO much blessing.

 "sharing breakfast in VA"

 "Playing at Grandma Lu's farm"

 First day of preschool.  

Fishing this summer at the cabin.

I am thankful for the kind of brother he was to me when I was little, he didn't let me get away with much of anything. He called me out on everything.  He was tough and wanted me to be tough.  He didn't appreciate my constant tears.  But yet he was always understanding to me.  Just when I thought we would never get along, we would be best friends.  Every family vacation he and I would bond and play together non stop.  When my first boyfriend broke up with me his response was "hey do you want me to go beat him up"…umm no.  But I loved his protection of me.

I was always so proud to be his little sister at school.  He was such a talented athlete and always such a good friend to so many that I LOVED telling people he was mine.  He was never too cool for me in high school, perhaps in elementary, but after that NEVER.

I loved his reactions to the different boys I dated, and I dated quite a few and quite a few that he was NOT happy about.  He let me know. He had an opinion on EVERY SINGLE ONE!  And he wasn't very good about "faking" that he liked the ones that he didn't.  I KNEW if I didn't date someone that passed his standards he would tell me.   Some of his guidelines I was given for a husband came during  a LONG drive home from my freshman year of college where he and my "then" boyfriend loaded the car up of my dorm stuff.  90 degrees outside, 4 flights of stairs and this is how it looked  10 boxes for Mike= 1 plastic bag for "the boyfriend", 4 pieces of furniture for Mike = 1 6 pack of coke classic carried by the old "BF" and so on…and a dinner out where Mike paid for ALL of us and not by choice.  Hence the 3 hour drive home was a lecture to me about boys, dating and marriage.

Some of Mike's guidelines for marriage
1. He opens doors
2. He ALWAYS pays for stuff.
3. He is LOYAL to his team, whether they win or lose, STICKS with his team.
4. He is ALWAYS respectful to you.  NO excuses.
5. He is NOT a pretty boy.

I love his heart, he has one of the biggest hearts around.  He would give someone the shirt of his back without any thought.  He is just that kind of guy.  After I was home with baby Max, 5 days in the hospital, 2 blood transfusions later…he came down for a day, my Mom had left, Scott really needed to get to a meeting…and so Mike drove down here to take care of me and help me with Max, took a day off of work to take care of his baby sister and her baby.  What a guy huh?

Today he is driving his oldest son Charlie, down to Ames so that I can meet him there and Charlie can come to Jack's birthday party that's tomorrow.  What a guy huh?  That's a long drive, and tomorrow we will meet him part way back with Charlie after the party.  When I thought it was too complicated to make it all work, he just offered to drive farther.  He is SO good to his family, and always has been so good to me.  I am so thankful for you Mike.  I love you.