Growing up as the youngest of three boys has its advantages. You get the usual things one thinks of when thinking about youngest children: Looser rules, more freedoms, and the almost assured title of family clown. Those are the basics. But one of the more impactful advantages, which is almost unfair for me, is getting to watch two brothers grow up before me. I got to watch their mistakes, their successes and everything in between. This brings us to my middle brother's birthday, which is today.
Ryan and I shared a room for what equated to my entire childhood. We had a bunk bed, we talked late into the night often. We jumped on mattresses on the floor when our room was under construction. We fought with lightsabers and (Heaven help us) ice scrapers. We did our schoolwork back to back, he often caught me playing video games instead of doing math. We listened to the same Adventures in Odyssey episodes night after night. Ryan introduced me to what would become my first actual album. (Portable Sounds by TobyMac) What he liked, I liked. This is why I am an avid fan of Tolkien, Lewis, history, Batman, baseball and many, many other things. Ryan was the first person to know about my first crush. And I knew about his long before that. Apparently Mom listened to these conversations through the vent, which adds nothing to my point, it's just an interesting fact. Ryan and I went on to go to high school together, where I learned more and more about how not to be a dweeb. Thanks much to Ryan, who was admittedly and justifiably appalled by my lack of social boundaries and awareness. Because of this, I've argued with Ryan more than any other human being. Some people have been more privy to that than I'd like. When I matured a little bit, me and Ryan began to see each other as peers once again, which allowed us to grow together. To fail together. To evaluate ourselves.
The reason I go through all of these memories is to show that Ryan is very much a reason why I am the way I am. His influence is very, very prevalent in my life today. He, along with my other brother Drew, is my best friend in the world. He will be standing with me in my wedding one day, and I will in his. He will also probably be thinking to himself that this whole post is a tad over-dramatic. But hey, this is what I have to offer when we live a 14 hour drive apart from one another. Ryan is honest, he is compassionate, he is intelligent and he is committed. He is a man of ever-growing wisdom and I could not be more proud of the man he has become. (Do I get to say that as a younger brother? Whatever, I just did.)
All of this to say, Ryan, thanks for being who you are and for being tough on me when I was a arrogant, ignorant child. Thanks for being my best friend. I hope you have an amazing birthday and I love you and miss you every day.
