Monday, April 5, 2010

Brotherly Love

These are some orange blossoms that are blooming in my yard. They smell delicious.
(orange blossoms are on my top 5 yummiest smells list)
Every time I hear the word blossom, I think about my brother.

This is my brother Brock. He's not on my top 5 yummiest smells list, but he is at the top of my list for favorite brothers.
(Brock in 1994)
Brock is 2 years, 1 month and 7 days older than me.
He took his job as an older brother very seriously. He never missed a day to tease me. He never passed up a moment to embarrass me. You know....big brother stuff.

One time he spent an entire Saturday pleading for me to answer the question, "Why didn't you tell me Le Mans???"
I didn't know what Le Mans was and I had no idea I was supposed to remind him about it. I was sobbing by the end of the day and apologizing profusely for forgetting to remind him about something so important.
When he'd seen me suffer long enough, he informed me that he didn't know what Le Mans was either and added,
"But it was sure fun to watch you cry about it all day."

Another time when I was about 13, Brock was downstairs with all of his buddies.
I usually had crushes on several of his friends and spent a good amount of time in the bathroom fluffing my bangs when I knew they were coming.
After I'd fluffed them good and long, I strolled downstairs to pretend I needed something.
I walked in the kitchen where Brock and his buddies were eating. Before I had a chance to bat an eyelash, Brock stood up, walked passed me and announced, "Wow Stac, you're really blossoming."
I was mortified.
I ran upstairs and sobbed on my bed. I was so angry with him. I swore I'd never speak to him again.

But not speaking to him didn't last long. He's my brother. And I think in some ways I enjoyed the abuse. I knew it was his way of showing his love to his little sister.

I miss him. He's married with 4 little boys. He's finishing his last 2 years of residency and has lived all over the country for many years.

But I wish he lived down the street.
I wish my children could play with his children.
I wish I could have them over for Family Home Evening tonight.
I wish I could see him often enough to dish back some of his teasing.

But for now I'll have to settle for a phone call and a brief update about he and his family. I'll have to be ok with pictures of his new little baby sent by email.

But I'll also be looking forward to visiting him soon. I'll even welcome some good ol' fashioned teasing while I'm there.

8 comments:

The DeGiulio's said...

He sounds like a wonderful brother. It was fun to read your post since I have 4 older brothers. I think I was probably a really annoying little sister because I thought it was so cool to go hang out with my brothers and their friends.

The Jensen Family said...

Have I have that same kind of Awesome brother as you and he too is the best brother that I have ever had. He teased me until I cried often, had very cute friends and one time, out of nowhere flipped my brastrap of my first bra so hard, I didn't know if I should hide from embarrassment or cry from the pain. He is also living a ways away from me and I as well as my kids can't wait to have him visit. Brothers they are the BEST! I love hearing your stories. Thanks

Katrina said...

Oh, I have a similar brother, and the teasing continues!

I miss your brother too, Staci - I wish they were closer so we could get to know them better. Maybe when all the schooling is done they'll want to move back out west. Until then, hopefully you'll get to be with them for some good old reminiscing/teasing!

Kate said...

Oh my gosh I love your post about Brock! I remember sneaking into his room to smell the bottle of Drakkar on his dresser. Too bad the rest of the room usually smelled like a fart.

You are such a sweet sister!

Jan DeGiulio said...
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Jan DeGiulio said...
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Jill Freestone said...

I feel the same about todd in texas - so glad you're going to visit!

Jason and Ashlee said...

Good ol' Broccoli. I had a very similar story about blossoming, but it came from Tim Bell with all of Brocks friends in the kitchen. I have never felt so dumb. Somedays I miss the body-slams!!

When are you going out there?