Brothers

    To the outside world we all grow old.

But not to brothers and sisters.

We know each other as we always were.

We know each other's hearts.

We share private family jokes.

We remember family feuds and secrets,

family griefs and joys.

We live outside the touch of time.

-Clara Ortega 

    Today I was thinking that I really haven't shared too much about my life before getting married to Steven. I have such a wonderful past full of so many great memories that absolutely must be shared! 

    For starters, I grew up in a homeschooling family, which automatically tells you that I have led a different life from most of my peers. It means that I spent the majority of my time at home (when I wasn't traveling across the United States, going on field trips to places that most people only get to read about, and attending church, Co-op, and music lessons) and that my brothers were my best friends for the first twelve years of my life. As I mentioned before, I have three brothers: Garrett, Cory, and Karson. Each one of them has a special personality that contributes to this thing I like to call "One big happy family".

    Garrett is two years younger than I and has always been my bestest buddy. I can't remember anything of life before him. We used to spend many an afternoon running around in the backyard building club houses and pretending to be police officers with some lovely police uniforms that my mom made for us. 

    I remember one of our favorite things to do was to collect all the dead squirrels that our cat would kill and then run over to the pizza place next door and bury them under their welcome mat. Then every once in a while we would go check on them and slowly watch them decompose. Great idea right?! Hey, what can I say, we were home-schooled...it was a science project that we invented for ourselves.

    As we got older we made more friends, but still remained close. We would confide in each other, laugh with each other, and spend time together. Despite being the older sister, I have still always valued Garrett's opinion and have enjoyed his company because he has always had this wonderful ability to make me laugh.

    Cory is four years younger than me and has always been the quiet child. He was always very organized and liked his toys to be set up just right when he was playing-which meant that very often he played by himself, but that seemed to be what he wanted anyway.

     Cory was cutest little boy you'd ever set eyes on. His little melting chocolate brown eyes could persuade you to do just about anything he wanted you to do (thankfully he never really wanted anything). I always said that Cory was probably the most perfect child out of the four of us. Though he was younger, I respected and admired him greatly for his obedience and behavior. He has always been quick to obey, willing to do anything asked of him, never whining, never begging, and never really needing anything. I love Cory for his sensitive spirit.

    Finally there is Karson who is eight years younger than me. There is much to be said about this little boy. He has always been the outspoken, excessively loud, incredibly funny, and most passionate boy you could ever meet. His personality was a surprise to all of us because as a baby he was just a quiet blob that never moved or made a peep. I have no idea what happened, but whatever it was I'm glad it did because his personality was the final piece to our family's puzzle. 

     Growing up with Karson was never dull (unless of course he wanted you to play with him, because he never actually wanted you to play with him, he only wanted you to watch him play). I remember he went through a phase where he loved playing with pet rocks (he painted them himself) and one day he must have been playing a little too hard and one of the rocks lost it's face. This was incredibly traumatic for him and so he wanted to have a funeral for this pet rock and then bury it in the backyard. The entire family was made to stop what they were doing and head outside where the service would take place. My dad, being the only ordained minster in our midst performed the service,  and then we each proceeded to say a kind word or two, and finally the service was wrapped up with a few memories recounted by Karson and quick prayer.

    I'm pretty sure each of my family members is writing a "Quotes by Karson" book, which we should someday all combine and give to him as a wedding gift (because he will most certainly get married, as he has spent most of his childhood expressing his undying love for any young lady he happened to come into contact with). I could easily go on with story after story about this one, but I'm not sure that any of you would actually have time to sit and read the whole thing. 

   In short, I am so very thankful for the three young men that God has allowed me to grow up with. For their encouragement, love, laughter, and friendship. Thanks for everything guys!   

                                             

                    Children of the same family, the same blood,

with the same first associations and habits,

have some means of enjoyment in their power,

which no subsequent connections can supply...

-Jane Austen