The Guys in My Life (Part 1)

I am lucky enough to have the most remarkable guys in my life...and I even get to call some of them family.

My brother is one of the biggest influences in my life. He is 18 months older than me. We had some degree of sibling rivalry growing up, but I don't think it was as bad as other cases I have seen, and faded out by late middle school. (The biggest problem we ever had was when my parents had to ban us from wrestling, because once he sat on my chest, and well, that made breathing a little difficult.)

Our characters are vastly different. He is loud, loves to be the center of attention, and incredibly honest, though it's often interpreted as being crass. He is also a better guitarist than he would ever believe.

I, on the other hand, am rather reserved in most situations, love being a wallflower, and I rarely say exactly what I'm thinking. (And I was ever only a mediocre drummer, at best.)

But most notably, we have very different work ethics, especially when it comes to school. I would argue that he is much more intelligent than I am, but our high school years, and even post-high school years, would not deliver the same message.

He has been out of high school for nearly 4 years now...the friends that he graduated with will be graduating from 4-year universities in the spring. And he...well he's at community college. But it doesn't faze him. He is the first to acknowledge he messed around too much...and he's finally settling down.

More than anything, he wants to make his way to a 4-year university. He's been working hard for over a year to make sure that he can do that by next year. He found a way to make it to England to study abroad earlier this year, and is now paying the bills for it. Recently, he started working while going to school, and is one of the top sellers in the store. He has an idea of where he wants to go, and how he wants to get there.

I'm ever so proud of him for that. We've surely taken different paths, but all the while, he has been one of my greatest role models.

He's one of my best friends. He makes me laugh like no one else. He understands me in ways that no one else can.

I simply don't know what I would do without him.