Brother

I got off the phone with my brother this morning, just loving him.

Honestly, there is a part of me that holds on a little too tightly to the image of my brother as a five year old--tow-headed, an open face of laughter, goofy. He is not that way anymore. He is dirty blond (sludge colored I like to call it, which I can safely because my hair is close to the same shade.), he is quite serious, and all goofiness is gone. But I have to let that little boy go. Because he is a good person, someone that surprises me in his thoughtfulness and his intense friendships and whose dedication and determination is like no other I have ever met.

He is going to buy a road bike so he can ride across Maine this summer with my father, because our dad recently turned 60 and Z didn't think we celebrated that enough (I agree).

He is mourning the death of a friend and was open to admitting that it has been hard.

He is training for a competition and, although he really wants bbq and just one beer, he will wait until mid-April to imbibe. I would never make it.

I think I have to let go of the five-year old Z so that I can better learn from the adult Z...