Sibling Rivalry??

Hubby is gone this week, on another business trip. I spend most nights that he's away staying up way too late, watching TV or checking e-mail/facebook. I always regret it when the alarm sounds at 6 am though!!

Anyway, last night I got a wonderful surprise....an e-mail from my brother and only sibling. It was entitled "Wish you were here..." Seems he had been snowed-in most of the day and had spent some time going though old photos that my dad had taken. All these wonderful photos are stored in the form of color slides (I guess that was the latest technology back in the day). My Christmas gift to him was a USB slide scanner which will scan and convert slides to digital pictures. Almost all our family history has been packed away for many years, stored in such a way that we haven't been able to enjoy it.

So imagine my delight when I opened the attachment to my brother's message to find the above photo of the two of us enjoying the snow! I figure this was taken around 1970 or '71. Me and my brother, in our red sled (which was the coolest!) in the snow...bundled up against the cold by our mother much like the kid in "A Christmas Story" until we could hardly get out of the sled when we got to the bottom of the hill.

I don't really need a reminder that I love my brother dearly, but it doesn't hurt to stop once in awhile and count him among my many blessings. And I really don't remember much sibling rivalry--he's always been my playmate, my encourager, and my hero in many ways. No one else fully understands my quirky sense of humor. I was the Robin to his Batman, the Tonto to his Lone Ranger. He taught me to fling myself fearlessly down every steep hill I encountered--wildly steering a red wagon in the summertime, hanging on for dear life on our red sled in the winter. I never thought to be afraid when I was by his side. I think our closeness was fostered by the fact that we lived so far out in the country that we had no choice but to be playmates for one another most of the time. I still recall heated negotiations--"I'll play house for the next 30 minutes, then we're playing cowboys and indians for 30 minutes!"

Anyway, tonight's note was a sweet reminder of how much richer my life is because of my big brother. Yeah, we still try to push each other's buttons, but it's all in good fun! Thanks, brother, for making me smile....I love you, and I wish we lived close enough to go sledding together, too!