little brother is a teenager!

my sweet baby brother is a TEENAGER today! i don't quite know how it is possible. 

davey is my favorite person in the great wide world. he is sweet and funny and (don't tell him i told you) he likes to cuddle.  his mind is a steel trap for numbers and statistics and he loves learning how to cook. he is a natural athlete. and he is so, so sweet. i can't stop thinking about how he held my hand on my college graduation day. i guess he isn't too old for his sissy yet. i hope he won't ever be.

when i visit my family, the moments just before sleep are our special time. he really likes to hear the story of when he was born. so i start to tell him of how we left for the hospital when it was so early it was still dark outside and he says, "no, no, start from the beginning. when you wished for me." so then i have to start over. i tell him how i wished for a brother every day of my childhood. i tell him about my letters to santa and bedtime prayers. then i tell him about the day we found out he was a boy and how i was allowed to miss school for the ultrasound after my third grade teacher took a poll to see if my classmates thought i'd have a brother or sister. then i tell him about how i was the first person to hold him, even before mom or dad. and then he smiles and drifts off to dream.

he might be a teenager now but i think i'll always baby him. despite what my dad says, i know davey likes it.

happy 13th birthday, brother! i love you so very much.