my brother

last night i had the distinct pleasure of hanging out with my little brother jon. standing in at a towering 6'3" i suppose it's no longer completely accurate to call him my little brother, but being that it's a habit i've never really wanted to let go of, i now refer to him fondly as my not-so-little-little brother. being more than seven years my junior, he will forever be my baby brother.

jon moved back to seattle in march after a nine-month post-college stint in san diego and it was a true joy for me to have him back. he's the only family i have here in washington and what's been beautiful for me is to have the chance to foster a real grown-up relationship with him.

when i moved here to seattle so many years ago now, he was a little ten year old boy, and experiencing very different things than his wide-eyed collegiate sister. because he was so young when i moved away from home, i always felt like i missed out on so much of his childhood and even though we had a special big-sister/little-brother bond, i often wondered if the distance that separated us would ever be able to be bridged.

fast forward thirteen years to the present and i can say with grateful assurance that my brother has grown into someone of whom i am truly proud. as we sat at our favorite place "prost!" over a couple of beers, watching the rain-soaked street filled with evening passers-by, i was thankful for how easily conversation and laughter flowed. we share a lot of the same loves like music and traveling, the same discontent with status quo life, the same antsy-ness at being chained to a desk for the standard 8-hour days. and because our hearts understand and feel some of the same things, i can rest safely in the knowledge that we are connected by more than just blood, connected by a fierce loyalty and love and longing for what this world holds for us.

i am thankful for my brother.