Uncle Bobo

Growing up, having a younger brother definitely felt like it had its pluses and minuses. I hope you know I say that with good intent. It had hard moments like being tackled in the backyard and sat on until you agreed to his demands, which made it hard to like the kid. But I liked him... no, I love(d) him. I look back and think about those times we would tell our friends that we couldn't play after school because we had to head home to "harvest our crops", aka play farmer in my moms garden. Or those times when we would spend hours roller blading and riding our bikes up and down the driveway, racing to see who could get to the tree first. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything.

There are moments I would trade though, those came in our teen years. Like the time that we were on the way home from our high school football game, my boyfriend had broken up with me at the game, and all I wanted was ice cream. And what did Bobby do, ran inside to eat the rest of the ice cream so I didn't "eat my feelings". Yeah, I wanted to trade not only that memory but I wanted to trade him that night. Or that time when he needed the car for "work" and was supposed to pick me up after he was off... and then he didn't pick me up and work ended up being a cute blonde. I would trade that moment too, I wanted to be the only cute blonde, I was a protective older sister and I was so mad. But when it all came down to it, I still loved the kid.

No shame in the fact, high school were rough years...

And then we had to really grow up. We went through some really crappy things. We moved away from each other physically. Our mom died. We missed some major life milestones together. But that saying "absence makes the heart grow strong", yeah... that was how it worked for Bobby and I. Our patience through annoying each other got better, our communication got stronger, and we flat out just missed each other.

He is now known as Bobo, a name so lovingly given to him by Ainsley Jean. And yesterday he became our roommate. 

After twelve years not living under the same roof, we are back together. I am so proud of my brother. He has worked so hard to get back to Washington, and Ainsley and I are stoked because it is not far from us. Hence the roommate arrangement. I will be working this afternoon on a set of "house rules" to include 1) not eating my stash of treats for when I have a bad day and 2) call if you are stopping at the store when you are on the way home so you can get my groceries too. ;) But really, welcome home Bobo, Ainsley and I are so excited to have you in our home and to see your smiley face everyday.