It’s my big brother’s birthday today and he is 47?! How does this happen? How is it thirty years ago that we were watching MTV and MASH together?
Ever since I read that Heather Havriliesky essay about showing up for your loved ones, I’ve been thinking about how that translates to my family, how my brother and I used to hang out so much and how now our goals from any interaction can be so different (spoiler: my goals almost always are to talk feelings).
But what matters is showing up, and when I show up I see the human I was raised with, who knows 40 years of in jokes and exactly how I think. I see a good guy, utterly convinced about right and wrong, fascinated by the world, unflinching about the pain that’s part of the world, and able to do a really good impression of Beavis.
I see my brother, and I love him. Happy birthday, Alan!