Friday, July 13, 2007

Happy Birthday, Bro!

My "little" brother is now 32.... I always used to tease him that he was born on Friday the 13th. LOL! In fact, we still do tease him, quite a bit. His nickname was french fry, because of his petite stature and probably due to his position as youngest in the family. Not only was he the youngest, but he was also the only boy. He doesn't believe it, but those two things combined provided A LOT of perks for him!!

My little brother is an avid car enthusiast, percussionist who dabbles (for a living) in architecture. He has a sense of humor that is rivaled only by..... well, no one. My girls have always been enthralled by him, his Ducati motorcycle and his XBox 360. If I had to boil it down to one word that describes my brother, it would have to be infuriating! I say that with the utmost of love in my heart.

From the time he was young, my brother has always walked to the beat of his own drum. No one else will be drumming for him. I can remember dropping him off and picking him up an hour later from a sleepover party at the ripe age of around 12. His friends has decided to add drugs and drinks to the party, and he decided it was time to go home. While he remained friends with these guys, he pursued his passions of cars and drums instead. Now, these two things did not have anything to do with academics!

It was in high school that my brother had to learn the fine art of brown nosing. You see, he was not at all passionate about school, unless school involved his drafting class. He had decided early on that cars and drums were going to be his entertainment, and to fund these hobbies he needed a "real" job. This job would be architecture. He excelled in drafting, paid attention to just enough math and for everything else - "Where There's a Will, There's An A"! He poured himself into those videos, which taught him just enough to squeak by in all other classes he deemed a nuisance. When it came time for college apps, we were all thinking he was dreaming. His dream? Virginia Tech School of Architecture. Of course, having your sister bring your recommendation form to your guidance counselor the DAY it's due is not a great start!

It was my first mother's day, Kt all dressed in her VA Tech outfit at 6 months of age, that we attended Uncle D's graduation from VA Tech. I'm not sure how he did it, but I have to admit, I'm quite certain things would not have worked out so well for me! He went on to land a job in CT that he has loved from day one. As usual, everyone there believes that everything he touches turns to gold. It's really.... well, sickening!

There's a lot more to this story, but we'll leave it at that for now, and wish him a very Happy Birthday. Thanks for making life look so effortless (his wife helps him with that, or his dirty clothes would give him away!), fun and like an adventure waiting to transpire. Uncle D, you are just plain fun (and infuriating!).

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