Shaun-Bob's Big Day

Today is my little brother's 21st birthday.

It's a widely known fact that those born on or around Christmas generally receive 2-fer-1 gifts-- getting a clump of all the festivities together in one present. I wish I could say that he's always been so good about this and has never once complained. But it's just not true. He complained a lot. I'm sorry that I never felt sorry Shaun, but hopefully a blog dedicated entirely to you will somehow make you feel loved.

Every once in a while, a conversation will head in the direction of, "Say, what's your earliest memory of life?" For me, it was when I was 2 and a half, sitting on my front lawn, turning my head to the driveway, and seeing my parents get out of the car with my new baby brother. And there's been a million memories since. Here's a few of my most vivid:

There was an ice cream truck that came everyday to our street. One day, our neighbor Taylor didn't have his 50 cents prepared for buying an ice cream. But that was okay! Shaun had a whole dollar bill that he immediately offered to share with Taylor... by ripping it straight down the middle. The ice cream man didn't say a word when he handed the boys their ice creams, and they each handed him "50 cents".

[I hated that] he named our cat "Truckie" just because he liked trucks. I thought it was the dumbest name in the world, and wondered who would let a 4-year-old name a cat.

If it wasn't for me, Shaun would have never fallen through the hallway floor joists and cracked his face open, causing him to have 65 stitches put in, and leaving several permanent scars-- one of which is shockingly similar to Harry Potter's. (But I totally won Floor Joist Run competition..)

When he got to be in the color guard at an Oregon football game this season.. I told everyone I knew. Proudest sister in town folks!

I could go on for much longer about my memories of playing Pickle for hours on end, or how he chased a punk kid down the street because they'd said something mean to his little sister, or how one time he put on one of my dresses and participated in a fashion show with me and a friend-- but I think the point is that without Shaun who knows when my earliest memory would have started? He makes it easy to have memorable moments with. I love you, Shaun Bob! (As not evidenced by the first picture below.) Happy 21st!!