Don't Tell My Brother, It Will Go To His Head

I have to take a few minutes this morning before the chaos starts to tell you about my fantastic "baby" brother. He is smart and funny and hard-working. Personality-wise, I've always meshed with him better than anyone in my family. Though seven years apart, I remember playing with him as a child more than anyone else. Or, more precisely, he was a child and I was a tweenie. He was always the clown and the center of attention. He is the youngest, and our family was busy by the time he was born. When he was in early elementary school, much of his read-aloud time was done by me. One of my favorite memories is being cuddled with him on his top bunk in the basement of my parents' old house bawling over the last chapters of "Where the Red Fern Grows." I'm also sure that the current owner of that house is still digging up "dead" GI Joe guys out of her flower beds.

Well, my little brother is graduating from GW Medical School on Sunday, and I couldn't be prouder of him. Four years ago, he and his brand new wife prepared to move to DC with much trepidation. Neither of them had really ever been away from home and they were overwhelmed by the cost of everything. My brother had been pretty bummed when he didn't get into the U of U, but they loaded their car and took off anyway.

As anyone who has moved away from family early in their marriage can attest to, their cross country adventure has turned out to be the best thing for them. They have made friends and valuable professional contacts. They have learned a lot about trusting and taking care of one another. They have learned they are stronger than they could have imagined.

One of the most exciting things is that my brother, who kind of scraped his way into medical school, has emerged as one of the top in his class with super high test scores, honors in every section of his rotationals, and a coveted residency at, yes, University of Utah. My family could not be prouder of him. But don't tell him, he can be a bit of a punk and we've got to keep him in his place.

My parents, my older brother, my younger sister and I are headed to DC tomorrow for the week. No spouses, no kids, just a brother-sister vacation for the first time in nearly 15 years. I'll post pictures when I get back.