When I first started blogging it was all about my family. I gave all my brothers and sisters names based on their personalities or inside family jokes and I began a “Meet The Fam” series where I described each of them.
I started with my older brother Bad Ass and managed to get through Bianca and Lolo before my turn came up. Lolo and Baby guest posted in a part one and part two series description of me and I was supposed to follow up with a post about my little brother Smart Ass and my little sister Baby.
Only I didn’t.
I will now.
Mom said she knew Smart Ass was a smart cookie when at three she told him to watch his mouth and he slowly cast his eyes downward before declaring that he couldn’t see it. There was no telling him “no” without receiving a thoughtful rebuttal.
When our Dad died my brother was five and everybody was soooo worried about him. It bugged me. I didn’t understand why just because he was a boy we all had to be worried about him not having a Dad. As if losing a Dad when you’re “just a daughter” is so much easier.
I figured crying louder and writing poems would prove that I was more hurt than he was. Years later I would see that the affects of growing up without Dad really were significantly different for SA than they were for me. Asking my Mom to buy a cup for baseball was never as difficult for me as it was for him.
As kids, my brother adored me. He knew I could beat him up and we both enjoyed teaming up to make our baby sister’s life a living hell. It was comedy. While he spent most of his time creating an enemy out of her I reaped the rewards of his friendship which included free access to his room and video games, a percentage of any money sent to him from our brother living on base, the Mother Confidentiality Agreement (no telling on each other), and the “I don’t eff with you, you don’t eff with me” understanding of 1992.
If I felt my position with him was a little shaky I knew all I had to do was push my little sister down the stairs to get in his good graces again. Not that I cared. I mean he was my little brother…but as he got older I found that being on his team was much more beneficial to me.
He’s that guy that if you tell him to stop talking loudly he’ll inevitably get louder. He’s incredibly amused when he can get under your skin and if you’ve got thick skin than he won’t get to you and you can sit back and smile fondly when he does it to other people. The trick is keeping your skin thick.
He also tries to be funny…exhibit a. from his Facebook status updates:
I just caught this big ass fly in a Hawaiian Punch bottle. Now what?
SUCCESS! I am now the proud owner of a fly on a string. Think we’re gonna enjoy this weather and go for a walk.and then there was this:
In high school Smart Ass grew about five feet one summer. No one saw it coming. In retrospect it made sense because when we were young he always had the most gigantic head and feet you’d ever seen.
Classmates often ridiculed him for those qualities, but the laughs on them because at six foot nine my brother dwarfs each of them.
My Mom has long said that little boys have a special way of wrapping their mothers right around their fingers. She’d make his lunches for him well after the high school cut off and we girls often watch in disgust as he wraps his great big arms around her in a bear hug and then flips us off with his free hand. He knows he’s got her too.
Even as a little thing he’d get into big trouble with all of us and after watching my sister and I receive spankings he’d wave his hands in the air, screaming about how he didn’t do anything. And she’d let him be!
In high school he almost died.
Our family was grief stricken as we held vigil in the hospital waiting for him to come out of his coma. Waiting to hear if he would remember us. Waiting for any sign that our brother was still in there. And that he was the same. My step-dad was riddled with cancer and should have been resting. Instead he was by my brother’s side…those long days and the stress they caused took precious days from what little time we had left with him.
I knew my brother was going to be okay after a few days when I sat at his bedside and in his unconscious stupor he worked to wriggle his hand out of my loving clasp. We aren’t a “holding hands” type of family. Ever. That he recognized this and wanted me to get away from him was one of the most delightful moments of my life.
He’s fine now. Lives five minutes away from my house and the only hand my brother wants to be holding lately is his boys. Turns out those little devils wrap their dads around their fingers just as tightly as they wrap their mamas. I’ve never seen Smart Ass in love with anything or anyone like he is with his boy.
Which shows me that buried deep deep down under that great big guy is somebody with a heart. Somebody who is a mama’s boy and somebody who should feel comfortable holding my hand in the hospital.
Maybe next time.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
I enjoyed reading about your younger brother. That was quite a scare when he was in a coma though. So glad he’s doing well now and is such a good dad.
6-fee-9-inches!?!?!?!? My God, he should’ve been a basketball player!
Beautifully written. Shows me I really need to work on me relationships with my siblings a bit..
lovely! anyone with a brother (or two) can totally relate!
What a sweet post :) And a beautiful family! :)
–>I love the posts about your family members.
So if I’m 5’2 then that means…..
Sorry. Short people have this fascination with tall people.
That was lovely. If I wrote about my brother I think I would have to nickname him Dumb Ass. But that is a story for another time.
Thank goodness he didn’t die, the world needs more attractive people, not less! (I’m married, not dead!)
This was a sweet post all about him, I always reealllyy wanted a brother, lucky lady!
Aw, so sweet.
You have the best family, can you adopt me? My family is annoying me just a little. ;)
i love it! especially the picture of his big feet and head. and all those special, heart warming memories such as not “effing” with each other.
your family must feel so loved. :)
I have to admit, I almost didn’t read this. Babies are crying. Lunch needs to be fixed. I was just on here to scan over some things. But this story of your brother caught my attention… and I’m SO glad that I read it. My husband sounds a lot like your brother in the “holding hand” and “smart ass” way. And also that his children are totally and completely wrapped around his finger. His sisters aren’t always so understanding of his “unique” personality… so it’s awesome that you are!!!!
I loved this! What a wonderful tribute to a little brother!
Aww! SO love your Meet the Fam series. When you are finished with your immediate family you need to keep it going with extended family or you can just make people up. Who would know?
Is it just me or was this like the nicest, most thoughful one so far. Is it because you’re afraid of him? I know I am. I CAN’T WAIT WAIT WAIT FOR BABY! I want to see your blog plastered with photos of her and her family….she’s gonna LOVE it! Baby LOVES knowing that her ish is all over the internet.
I loved this… Now I’m going to have go back and read the others :-)
I just loved this! I liked the gay joke. So funny :)
Wow… great post… loved meeting Smart Ass! But 6’9… wholly crap!
You had funny boy hair when you were younger. Like shorter than Smart Asses. Why? Why did you have such short hair? Not that I hate it. But I’m just curious.
Wow!!! What a beautiful post and your family Wow!!! I love the names for your brothers toooooo funny!!!
This was such a wonderful post, Kathy. And how is it that your entire family is so freakin’ good-looking? Is that even genetically possibly? Scientifically feasible? Anyway, it was an awesome post and you are just the coolest mama around. Except for the fact that you push people down the stairs…
That’s mean.
But I love you for it….which makes me mean, too. And I don’t care.
Oh, Kathy… I could feel the love you have for your brother with every word you wrote. Brought tears to my eyes. What a lovely post!
I’m an only child and I often wonder what it would would be like to have siblings. Growing up alone really does suck…thanks for this post and reminding me of that, you’re a gem :-)
This was such a great post :-) I loved reading about your brother and the relationship he had with you and the rest of the family. Thank you for sharing! Loved it!
Aww you guys are the best looking family!
Now tell me….does YOUR son have you wrapped like SA had your mom wrapped?
For some reason, this post made me want to cry. Those realationships are the ones to cherish. I remember the “Mother Confidentiality Agreement”, my sister and I got away with “murder” and knew we had each others backs. I love that he knows how to do “CPR” or what ever he was really doing…lol
The pictures are great – especially the one of him on the shore, standing in those ginormous, massive tennis shoes! HAHAHA Every kid’s fear as they hit a growth spurt…how awkward am I going to be this go around? Wonderful tribute to your brother.
Alright, it took me a while but I’m all caught up in the family series now. This was neat and I loved reading all those posts! Made me appreciate my family all the more, and loving the fact that we are close-knit. ;)
6’9″ tall!! My husband is 6’6″ and everyone is always in awe of how tall he is and your brother has him beat by 3″ lol.
I bet it was great fun growing up with so many siblings! My brothers are quite a bit younger than me since they were the “2nd round” and it kind of sucks even now.
Dangit, Mama Kat. How do you DO that??