For My Brother

My brother hardly ever requests a specific birthday or Christmas present, but he called me a couple of months ago to say that he would really like a hardbound copy of all my blog posts for his birthday in November. I found out a couple of years ago that it is very easy to turn your blog posts into a book--with the help of some online publishing services like Blog2Print. All you do is pick out a cover background/image and make some decisions about appearance and which posts you want to include, and Blog2Print does the rest. Even though he is tech-savvy and no stranger to e-books, my brother, it seems, would rather have a book of my blog posts that he can hold in his hands. So he is going to get his wish, and this is the dedication he will see in his completed book.

Recently, my friends and I have remarked that there are so few people left in our lives that actually remember our parents and specific occasions from our childhoods. I'm sure that most siblings share special memories, but I think mine and Tim's are all the more poignant because it's just the two of us. We remember the ordinary and the special--trips to the grocery store and Sunday drives, celebrations and funny jokes, family visits and sad times--and we're grateful for having the same memories.

Now for a small photo montage featuring my brother and me--

My grandmother has written on the back of this studio portrait:
"Rebecca Sue and Timothy Stephen
Daughter and Son of Jack and Ida Smith
Ages 4 and 7"

Tim and I with our grandmother at Aunt Georgia's

I've always loved these pictures of us
at the house on 42nd St.

Theme: Pets and outdoors
Love the expression on Tim's face in the bottom left pic
I've seen that expression lately!

Theme: Celebrations
I think I've recently seen that expression
in the top photo too!

Theme: Hats

Theme: General awkwardness

Even though we are three years apart in age and four years apart in school years (I was one of the youngest in my class and Tim was one of the oldest in his) we have always been pretty close--except for a brief period of time in which my most common response was to whack him in the back when he annoyed me. We played outside a lot together when we were kids, we took disco lessons together when we were young adults, and now we travel together. We've been to Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington D.C., North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama. (We just can't talk about politics.)

I think this photo (and what's on the back of it) says it all. 

My grandmother wrote on the back:
"Becky gave Tim this T-shirt for Christmas to tease him.
They go a lot of places together."

Love you, little brother!