For Michael......

Okay Mike you wanted it, well here it is. You dared me to write a blog about you and only you. (he has always been that way, third child syndrome, very needy and self centered) I hope you know what you got yourself into.

My brother has been bugging me to write a blog for only him and that got my mind going. I have so many memories I could share about my brother. I remember when my mom was pregnant for him, she was at a dining room table eating a tomato and she was pregnant, that is my memory. I think I remember going to the hospital after he was born a seeing him through the glass. I also remember that I saw him in a bassinet and having the feeling that this person needed to vanish. (from my developmental psychology class we are taught that this is a VERY normal feeling) I believe that is when the sibling rivalry started. We were baptized on the same day when we were older. When he graduated senior high. Oh, Mike and I had our fair share of fights. I think mostly I wanted him to like me and I just wanted to be his friend. I wanted him to listen to what I had to say and then do what I told him to do (what, that is not so bad). He would do anything and everything to annoy me. He used bribery, blackmail and conning to get his way and I let him. (not a bad thing by the way) After all is said and done I really do love this kid, almost like one of my own kids sometimes, he has that special place in my heart.

When Mike and I became closer, we were older. I worked in the buffet of the Soaring Eagle and he convinced me, another one of his cons, to switch over to Room Service. I was sketchy at first then I transferred. I loved it, we became the brother and sister I had always imagined. But then he left me to go work in another venue where he could make more money. What a brat.

Years went by and my brother slipped away from me. He was headed down a very ugly path, I won't say what that path is, it is very personal, but he was going down that path. No matter how hard I felt I prayed, the further he got away from me. I felt like every inch he got further from me the more my heart sank into my chest. It did not cease my prayers but I was definitely getting a little discouraged. Every time I saw him he looked a little more tired. I wanted to reach out, but I really felt like it was too late for me to do anything for him. I talked to my husband and he had little to offer for advice, but he was very understanding of what I needed to do to help my brother out.

In August of 2006 I saw a side of my brother that left him weak and vulnerable, and in the darkest pit of his life. He came to live with my family. I cannot take any credit for the transformation he went through. It was tough, tough on me, him, Mark and my kids, but it was all Mike. I saw things in him that made me appreciate what I have even more. He did things that I am sure were very hard for him to accomplish. He told me things I will never repeat to any one, we shared something that only a brother and sister can share. I have a new higher respect for him and for that I consider him a hero. He trudged through hell to get where he is now and that is all part of his testimony when he gets to where he is going. For now he is in Colorado snowboarding on the mountains, enjoying his life.



I will say that the happiest day and the saddest day for me as far as my brother is concerned all happened on December 10, 2006. That is the day I saw him get on a plane heading out to Colorado (sad part) I felt as if I was sending my own kid someplace else far away from me. Happy part, I had peace about it, knowing he was doing exactly the right thing, knowing he would make the right decisions for himself. I talk to him weekly, well except when the abominable snow monster eats his phone (MICHAEL!!!), and he is doing fabuolous. When he came home in September last year he looked so healthy and happy.

Hey Mike, I just wanted to let you know that I love you, even when you do bite my head and get my kids all hyper, take my hubby away from me to play video games and leave me all lonely.

Sis.