Big Brother

Though I was often asked, perhaps sometimes rudely, about my nails, I never as I child received the ridicule and persecution my boys deal with today. Has the world gotten meaner or was it because of my big brother? Greg was only a year ahead of me in school and everyone liked Greg. They called him “Smiley” from grade school through college. He played basketball. The girls liked him. But mostly he was just a nice guy. In junior high, we rode the bus. At the end of the day, when the bus dropped us off, we had only a block to walk home if we cut through a field. But a person with PC starts a day fresh and ends it sore. I don't ever remember asking Greg to carry me home. But many, many times, he would take our backpacks, my violin, and his trumpet and run them home. Then he would run back and piggyback me home. Lot's of kids got on and off at that bus stop. But looking back, I don't think anyone would've ever dared say anything mean to Greg's shy, funny looking sister. The year he went to high school as a 10 th grader was the year 9 th graders were moved to high school as well, so went to high school at the same time. For the next 3 years, we drove to and from school in an old green truck. I didn't hang with him at school like a pesky little sister, but my claim to fame was that Greg was my brother and because he was respected, I've do doubt some of that respect trickled down to benefit me. Yes, I had a senior year without him, but by then I was gaining some of my own confidence.

I am so grateful for a 'big brother' who was never embarrassed to be with me. He certainly made the road easier for me. Now, as my kids deal with the cruelties of other children, I say 'Thanks for good friends and neighbors who are courageous enough to step in and play that part.'