Part of the fun of having a nephew is getting to see my brother in an entirely new light now that he is a father. I used to joke that I had two fathers -- my dad and my very overprotective older brother. It's incredible to watch my brother interact with his son. I love to see the joy my nephew brings to my brother's life.
Growing up, my brother and I fought like most siblings do. Even though he was protective of me and wouldn't let anyone else give me a hard time, he seemed to think it was okay for him to pester me. I remember playing cops and robbers and him tying me to a tree as part of the game. That was okay until bugs began crawling on me and he refused to untie me. As we grew older, we fought less frequently. I was a freshman when he was a senior in high school, so we rode to school together. I remember him telling my parents that he would take me to school, but that I would have to find my own ride home. Looking back, I think he believed he could get to school early enough that none of his friends would see me with him, but after school, he would have no choice but to be seen with his sister. Needless to say, my parents told him he would have to give me a ride home whether he liked it or not.
As we grew even older, my brother became my best friend. He was a senior when I was a freshman in college and this time, it was okay to be seen with me. We even had a class together that year. We talked all the time, did things with one another, and even worked at the same job.
After he graduated from college, my brother moved to Columbia, Missouri, to attend law school. I'll never forget the day we dropped him off at his apartment. I bawled like a baby. We had never been away from one another for any lengthy period of time, and I was struggling with the thought of not seeing my best friend everyday. Instead, I had to settle for talking to my brother on the phone and occasional visits on the weekends and at holidays. Each time he would call, I could count on him saying, "Hey Beezie!" Beezie (or Beeze) is the nickname I inherited as a child (maybe that will be another blog post). To this day, it's the same greeting my brother uses when I call or when we see one another.
My brother graduated from law school on the same day I graduated from college with my teaching degree. I remember walking across the stage, accepting my diploma, and then walking straight out of the gym to meet my parents for a frantic car ride to Columbia in time to see my brother earn his law degree. We always did like to do things together.
Even though my brother is married and has a son, he is still one of my best friends. I look forward to talking to him and hearing that familiar, "Hey Beezie" on the other end of the line. That's part of why I was so excited when my two year old nephew said, "Hi Beezie!" when I talked to him on the phone this week. Talk about melting my heart!
As exciting as that was, it was even more exciting to find out that my brother and his wife are going to have twins. I knew they were planning on having more children, but I never expected they would have twins. This week we found out they are having twin boys. I can only imagine how much fun my three nephews will have with one another and how amazing it will be to watch my brother with his growing family. It's also fun to think that my nephew will get to be a big brother. I'm sure he will be great. After all, he learned from the best big brother -- his dad.
My brother, Scott, a few days after becoming a father.
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