Hard to believe that I have a brother that is turning 36! It doesn't sound as old as 40...but don't worry, you'll be there in a few years Dan!
Well, to make up for the fact that his birthday card will be arriving late, I wanted to take a minute to make a tribute to my oldest brother, Dan, on his birthday.
Even though I was only around 11 when Dan went away to college and stopped living at home for the most part, there are still plenty of memories and fond thoughts, some fonder than others, that I have of him.
- Who has a brother that owned those rides and machines that you find in stores and malls that the kids play on? You know, things like a helicopter that goes up and down when you put a quarter in it. They seem to be a dying breed (all except for those 1 cent horses they have in all of the Meijer stores...how do they make any money off of those??). But anyways....I do remember Dan helping to pay his way through college by having a collection of these and working on them in high school and college.
- Dan has a very diverse music interest....okay, maybe not very diverse....but he definately likes rock. And I do remember him teaching me several rock songs that I'm sure it was funny for a young girl to know the lyrics to.
- Dan also has a fondness for anything with wheels and/or an engine. It doesn't necessarily have to have both.
- Monte Carlo.....enough said about that.
- Dan went to Purdue for his undergraduate degree....I used to think I would go to Purdue also. Mostly because I was somewhat unaware that there were other colleges out there. But still his choice of college had an influence on me.....although thankfully, by the time I was actually to the age of thinking about college....I realized there were many, many other options.
- Dan is a good gift-giver....(I think Annette helps these days)...but I still daily wear the watch that he gave me 5 years ago...And if you remember my post about the Foxtrot comic books for Christmas this year....He always seems to put thought into his gifts...even if he still wraps them in the Sunday comics.
Well, I realize this post is getting plenty long and Dan may not even read it all the way through if it gets much longer.
Dan, I think you've turned out pretty good. You have a wonderful family and it's been fun to watch you love your two little girls. I won't get too sappy, but know that I'm glad you are my brother (and now all of our faithful blog readers know too!)and I hope that you have a great birthday!
Shoot...this probably means that I need to do something equally nice for my 2 other brothers for their birthdays this year.....Jon and Phil, I can definately manage to send out your b-day cards late and I'll try to remember to make a tribute to you on the blog. Don't worry, I'm glad both of you are my brothers too.
