I Miss My Brother

If anyone quotes me on this, I'll deny it. But I miss my brother.

He's been gone 3 weeks now. He and his family had this awesome opportunity for the summer: they received a grant from the school where he teaches (history - yuck!) and they spent 4 weeks on a cross-country adventure in an RV. They have 3 children under age 11, so I'm not sure if they really thought this through, but I digress.

This trip is right up my brother's alley. He's such a history geek. I say that in a totally loving way. He knows it. My sister-in-law is also a teacher, so they have managed to see and do everything from Niagara Falls to a cowboy dinner to visiting our grandmother in TX (okay...I'm secretly jealous of that one!). All this to say, they were blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime this summer. What fantastic memories for their kids!

(If someone in their family were so inclined, she would make CREATIVE MEMORIES albums to chronicle their journey. She could find the items at www.creativememories.com/asalley).

Wait - that sounded like a commercial break. My bad.

As I said, my brother is a teacher. I'm not exactly sure when he teaches though, because during the school year, I email him throughout the day. Not a Monday-Friday goes by without us "chatting." Weekends and holidays, not so much, but when we're both at work, we're totally devoted.

And then he leaves for a month. What's up with that??? I've been having to read his trip log to keep up with what's going on in his life. The only good thing about that is that he writes like he talks, so it's like carrying on a conversation with him. Even when he's been in California or Wyoming, he's been close at heart, since I can imagine his every inflection and facial expression.

Still, I miss him. Rewind 25 years and I never would've guessed it. But I truly not only love my brother because I have to, I love him because he's one of my best friends. We neglect our friendship more than our non-family friendships, mostly because we have 5 kids between us and we know we will always be there, regardless of how much effort goes into that relationship. But I think he's a funny, interesting, although somewhat nerdy guy, good looking with a good-looking wife (we had an odd habit...we married clones of ourselves...so the good-looking comment had to be said), a great Dad and a great Christian. I like him.

There, I said it. And it didn't even hurt too much.