Happy Happy Birthday Baby Brother

Today is my little brother's birthday. It seems like just yesterday that I was scareing the shit out of him in our dark hallway, that he was begging me to play ninja turtles with him for the millionth time, and that he was calling his little penis "taggle waggle". The first time I held him I remember being so worried that I might hurt that gross sore on his belly. I still worry about him getting hurt, but now in different ways. I can't remeber a time that I was not trying to protect him from something. I think Eric Webb from Bethlehem elementary school is still traumatized from me grabbing him from behind by the collar of his shirt and threatening to rip every limb from his body with my bare hands if he took one more step in his attempt to chase my brother around the playground. The hardest thing about being Jeremy's big sister today is that I can't protect him anymore. The best thing about it is that I know he does a damn good job himself. Jeremy carries this hard shell on the outside, but it's the goodness that he carries within that makes him who he is. I am proud of him for so many reasons but most of all for not being afraid to be himself. You have the world at your finger tips little man. Embrace it. Happy Twenty Second Birthday little brother of mine. I love you.