Saint Nick

For those of you who aren’t close to me, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’ve got an older brother!  We are 6 weeks apart (same dad, different moms) and every once in a great while (we’re talking years at a whack) do we get to see each other. It’s not too often he’s in Juneau, and it’s pretty rare these days that I’m in Tacoma.

Well, today, after work, I got a message on my cell that he was in town!  After getting home and dropping things off, Heather and I took off to find him downtown. Despite his supposed being at dinner, we couldn’t find him, and later tracked him down with family at the Red Dog Saloon.

It’s always great to see him, and while I’m not sure how to be a sensitive caring brother since the role is fairly new (my younger brother and I don’t really get along that well due to a variety of issues), I’m always excited to spend a little more time with him as building relationships is often based on time spent with one another.

Anyhow, we got out of the Red Dog and decided to run out to my mom’s house to drop off a couple items in our “storage unit” (aka her spare bedroom), and of course to share the surprise of Nick being in town.

It was neat to sit and chat despite our mutually “crooked” family tree, and to sit and compare the little things like the similarities of our hands. While it’s overlooked in most sibling relationships, it was somehow odd for me as a 29 year old to reflect on the fact that I’ve never been able to compare myself to my father – I relied on other’s recollection. Today I had a chance to look for similarities based on the fact that we’re both our father’s sons.

So why did I call this post “Saint Nick”? Well, truth be told, I wanted to incorporate his name, and it fit… But more than that, even though he’s somewhere near 6 and 1/2 feet tall, he has an amazingly gentle spirit. Maybe it’s the family connection thing, but I’ll use my inter-rater reliability (Heather noticed too) which means it must be true, right? He’s got a genuine smile, and enjoys sharing it, especially now that he’s been able to get his knocked-out tooth replaced! 🙂

Regardless, it’s fun to have him in town, to look at our similarities (our hands) and differences (our height), and to get to know him that much better.

A few pictures from the evening (as proof of the size difference – remember I’m only 6′). Thanks Heather for snapping the shots (and A+ for using the rule of thirds!)

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