Ross the Boss

When I was little, I was a brat.

I know, I'm sure it's hard to imagine.

But I really didn't like my little brother. He was a pest! I have vivid memories of him SITTING on me while I watched Care Bears on the Disney channel. He was about the same size as I was (despite being three years younger than me).

He also used to come into my room at night, with a tub of sugar, eat it in my closet, and then LEAVE IT IN THERE, trying to get me into trouble.

What a pest!

And I was a brat and had VERY little patience for this sort of thing. So I would tattle. Or do things to get him into trouble. Poor Ross.

I also used to torture HIM. Because he was younger and I was smarter (only because he was younger). My cousin Ryan and I used to play this game we called "The Claw." I grew up in Houston where we get lots of thunderstorms. And we lived on almost an acre of land that was COVERED in trees. So whenever a big thunderstorm came through, the yard would be littered with tree branches. BIG tree branches.

So Ryan and I would convince Ross to climb up onto the top of our jungle gym and we would try and knock him off the top of it.

With the giant tree branches. That looked like claws.

Ross was about 3 at the time. Ross, I'm so sorry.

Bless it.
We grew up though. And even though the teenage years were ROUGH, once I moved away to college and we both matured a little more, he became one of the FUNNIEST and FUNNEST people I know. We have a good time together.

And I'm super proud of him. He just got out of the Army and is now in college at SHSU getting a degree in Secondary Education. He wants to be a high school English teacher. SO PROUD!

And he's gotten involved with a home church in Hunstville. This totally blesses my heart because I continue to pray that he remain a Godly and Christ-centered man. That he will listen and act on the truths in the Word and will one day lead a family in that way. I can't tell you what a cool thing it is to hear him talk about his home church. It basically rocks.

One of the greatest things about Ross is his sense of humor. Boy do we feed off of each other. My family can testify to that. Our trip to Disney World over Christmas was awesome! And one of my favorite memories was when we were sitting and waiting for the Tower of Terror (aptly named) to start, he leaned over to me and said, "Look! You can hold this bar here!" knowing that I was looking for something to hold onto that would help ground me. And when the wretched ride was over he leaned over and said, "I'm not a huge fan of that ride..."

He's a good brother.

I love that we can quote Friends and Seinfeld and the Big Bang Theory together. I love that he does dumb things sometimes. I love that we've forgiven each other and moved past the times when we weren't really close. I love that he is studying English in college and when he texts me he uses the wrong You're/Your because he's too lazy to put in an apostrophe. I love that he loves Star Wars and has a lightsaber and a Yoda backpack. I love that he GRACIOUSLY let me use the Yoda backpack for a morning when we were at Disney World. I love that he has Disney Dice hanging from the mirror of his Explorer. And isn't ashamed. I love that he is an incredibly talented musician and always enjoys jamming out. I love that he once told me that he would love to audition for Phantom of the Opera and that he wants to play either Firmin or Andre. And I love that he puts up with his Know-it-All sister and just rolls his eyes when I'm right and he's wrong. Or laughs and says, "HA!!!!" when I'm wrong and he's right...

He's a good baby brother.

And I love him.