national sibling day

I just discovered that today is officially "National Sibling Day." Who knew? Being the oldest, wisest, and least attractive of 4 children, I should know these things.

In honor of National Sibling Day, allow me to honor my siblings.

Kari Jo (2nd from the left) is 27 years old, is married to Rodney, and has a wonderful 6 month old son, Grayson. She has a master's degree in education and is a middle school teacher in Kentucky. She's a wonderful singer, is very thoughtful and caring, has an infectious cackling laugh if you get her REALLY cracked up, enjoys swimming in their backyard pool, went through a mean-attitude-hellacious-demon stage of life when she was around 8-11 years old that is hard for me to even imagine now, and is really good at picking on our brother, Brandon.

Speaking of Brandon, far left. He's 19 years old and is currently a freshman at the University of Kentucky. He's witty, a little moody, can be quite thoughtful when he wants, and spent much of his childhood playing Ninentdo and Play Station. He's pretty good at all sports, but is currently the most adept at tennis. I don't think he has a major right now, but has expressed interest in the FBI, CIA, CSI sort of field. I have incredible memories of his childhood up until he was age 6, which is when I headed off to college. We shared a room for those 6 years, wrestled a lot, played sports in the yard, and had a lot of fun times.

Kaly, 2nd from right, is our youngest sibling. She's 16 years old. She's very smart, has an amazing voice, is also quite witty, and has a pretty typical teenage female temperment....mean, nice, sort of nice, mean again, not talking, talking all the time, laughing, growling...you get my point. =) She's really funny though, and has her heart set on a career in dermatology. She's destined to invent the next generation of Pro-Active, which will actually make people 2 levels better looking just by applying. Are you a 6? With Kaly's future creame, you'll be an 8.

Unfortunatey, because Brandon was 6 and Kaly only 3 when I left for college, I've missed much of their growing up. That has really bothered me more as time has passed. Now that they are older, I just now feel like I'm getting to know them and be friends with them again, which is cool. Kari and I definitely had some rough years as siblings when we were younger, but for the last 10 years or so we've been much closer, spent weeks at church camp together, developed a better friendship as adults, things like that.

Being the oldest of 4 has definitely meant more to me as an adult than as a child. I think more about my siblings, wonder how they're doing, hope they're succeeding in whatever they are doing, worry about them, and look forward to many years of shared time and fun together. Kari, Brandon, and Kaly....I love you all very much, and am proud to be your big brother.