Tuesday, August 21, 2012

My brother Ian and I haven't always been close. When were when we were little and were always outside getting dirty and exploring the property around our house. Ian was the cutest little kid with his glasses and full cheeks. As we grew older and were in high school we had all the same friends, which was awesome most of the time. Sometimes it was tough too.
I remember one day when I was driving us home from school because Ian didn't have his driver's license yet. He had the air conditioning on and I was freezing. "Can you turn that off?" I asked him. "It's freezing in here!"
"Put your coat on," he replied. I was sitting on my coat because I had started out the drive with it on. I looked over at him, and there he was with his coat on.
"You take yours off," I said. "You're not driving."
But the stinker that he was he wouldn't take off his coat. He insisted that it was just as easy for me to put mine on as it was for him to take his off! So I'm pretty sure I froze all the way home.

Anyway there were really touching moments too, like when I went into my bedroom one day and found a note Ian had left me on my bed. I still have it it was so sweet. When Ian left on his mission he was so excited to finally be doing something before his older sister, and when I left on mine he really helped me to prepare for it with his encouraging letters from Alabama. I remember he called me one night when I was in Argentina and he was still in Alabama, just about to come home. It was 2:00 in the morning and I couldn't believe he had my number. He wasn't technically supposed to be calling me, but I was so glad that he did.
Now that we're so many miles apart I really miss him and his blunt, goofy, philosophical self. We must talk on the phone now 2-3 times a week, comparing how much produce we've gotten from our garden, having deep religious discussions, and sharing jokes. Sometimes he'll call me just to tell me a joke. I guess we're closer than we've ever been. Love you, bro.

2 comments:

Bethany Fegles Photography said...

This was the best post. I loved every word of it!

And I love that you two talk so often! Pretty special!!

ellen said...

the photos are classic!