Happy birthday brother!!

Today is my big brother's 40th birthday. My brother, Jesse, was my first influence in life when it came to trying to figure out how to be in the world. For my first decade of life, that pretty much meant following him around trying to do absolutely everything that he did. He taught me how to tie my shoes, how to make people laugh, and how to spend a perfectly splendid day just building things with Legos.

I really don't know how people get through life without siblings, and I'm so grateful for the one I got. Here's an early memory I still treasure deeply:

When Jesse was ten and I was seven, we did something really naughty. I don’t remember what it was. But it was so bad, the parents doled out the harshest punishment: they took the T.V. away. Rather than just leaving it turned off, or unplugged, they actually lugged it into the garage so that there was no chance of our stealing cartoon moments with it.

Undaunted, my brother came up with a plan. He marched to the garage. I followed. He pulled up a plastic crate for a seat, and invited me to do likewise. We sat, staring at the blank T.V., arms crossed. We watched and watched and watched; we were sitting in front of a non-working T.V. in a defiant gesture of solidarity for what felt like seven episodes of Greatest American Hero. It was awesome.

That event seared into my brain as one of the greatest lessons for life: anything you really want in life should be approached with humor, imagination and dogged determination. Even better if you have someone sitting next to you to do it with.

Happy Camper

It kind of freaks me out that he's 40 today. Because that means it's just around the corner for me. But I'm so amazed by the person he grew up to be: someone with an enormous heart, a talented musician and author and speaker, a rad dad with an awesome partner, and the ability to dream big, beautiful things for life.

Jesse with his son Ryder, or as I like to call him, the Super Neph

I love you Jesse! Thank you for everything you taught me about how to navigate life!!! Love, your little sister

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