So my attentive brother calls tonight to remind me that if I fail to blog before the end of the year I will have a gap in my archives! I can't let that happen now can I?
Ahhhh, my brother.....He and his family were out here in California for about a week before Christmas. What fun that was. I really am so thankful that he and Sharla regard family as important enough to travel 1500 miles with two babies just to be together for the holidays. He's my only sibling. Kenny's family is larger, so we see "family" of some sort quite often. But my family isn't so big, and the times our paths cross is few. But I am thankful for the efforts we all make to stay as close as we can.
That week was fun. Byron married an incredible person in his wife, Sharla. I love her 'realness', she is smart, and honest and confident. Together they have Blake, a textbook 2-year old, adorable and a total handful and Anna, a near perfect baby, a perfect addition to their family. Blake and our son, Elliot play well together except for times when Blake grabs a handful of Elliot's mop of hair. I think the cause and effect reaction is just too much for him to resist! Sadly I think Elliot may always refer to Blake as the Texas cousin that pulls hair. Anna is a doll, literally. It is so fun to shop and buy the cutest clothes for her. I look forward to sharing vacations with Byron's family for years to come.
I am so proud of Byron today. We have known each other for forever but not until the last decade or so have I grown to really like and love him more. As the years have passed he has become someone I respect and admire and truly enjoy being with. You might say we had kind of a cat & dog relationship during our growing up years. I was 4 years older and loved the advantage that came with that. He was 100% boy and I had not an ounce of tomboy in me. We were just different, our interests were never the same and our competitive natures at times made us more enemies than friends.
It started to change when he began ACU and I married his best friend. We were all in Abilene together and he would spend many a hours at Kenny and my house. I loved giving him a hard time but secretly, I loved him hanging around. He would steal bowls of ice cream and we would talk. We started becoming friends more than just siblings. His first date at ACU included a stop by our house and making some kind of pudding/pie dessert. (Sharla would remember it better than me.) I loved being his sister at that point, being included in the begininning of that relationship. Our connection as brother and sister has only grown stronger since then.
Today he's a man, a wise and Godly man. He's a spiritual leader in the Kingdom and in his home. He's a good father, he takes this responsibility very seriously. He's the most loving and supportive husband to Sharla, they are truly one on everything it seems. I love watching him grow and mature and learn as he goes. I love that we can talk, deep, about subjects and not have to agree on a point. I respect his views and the way we can not see eye to eye, but still appreciate each other's heart. I am thankful that we have reached a point where we protect the relationship above any issue or circumstance.
I miss you, Byron, but I have learned to cherish the times we share more and more. Thank you for the sacrifice you make to stay close to us. I beam with pride to refer to myself as your sister.
Happy New Year
