On March 20th in 2008 my wife gave me my first child.  A boy.

Its been an amazing two years with my little guy.  I used to hold him in my lap for hours, just talking to him about all the fun times we were going to have together as he grew up and up and up into a man.  Soccer practice, camping trips, ghost stories, birthday parties, tickle time, and more.  At 2 and 1/2, he’s talking with his cheeky grin and bright eyes, running around the house with heavy footfalls as he chases another day away in the adventures of childhood.  His best friend, his grandpa, sits on the floor with him and plays games, practices the alphabet, and plays hide and seek.  And despite all the fun that this little boy is already having, he has no idea just how great and how wonderful his life is going to get.

Tomorrow, on June 30th, my wife will give him a brother.

There are days when it’s just my son and I.  These are good days.  We’ll rough house or I’ll chase him like a scary monster around the living room or we’ll draw funny shapes on the chalkboard.  There are times though recently when my son has just sat in my lap with his head against my chest and I try to tell him about the little boy that is on the way.  A little boy hiding in mommy’s stomach and what it will mean for the little boy in my lap.  Its hard for me to explain it – all I can say is, “you’re gonna have a little brother.”

I tell him that being a big brother is a big responsible.  And as I’m trying to form into words just how important this relationship will be, I think about my own brother.  I remember back to the dim days of my own childhood, now seeming so long ago.  My mind starts to remember all the little things from those days:

1. My brother was my first DM.
2. I used to eat candy bars and drink Coke while reading comic books on the living room carpet with my brother.
3. My brother used to read to me at night.
4. Hulk tests
5. My brother invented crayon wars.
6. My brother would wake me up for Saturday morning cartoons.
7. I’d wrestle my brother.  I’d lose.  But he’d tell me to try even harder next time.
8. My brother taught me how to dominate at Risk.
9. My brother used to brag to his friends about how tough I was, how smart I was, how well I could write.
10. My brother helped me build Lincoln Log and Lego fortresses.
11. I learned all the good curse words from my brother.
12. My brother taught me how to sword fight.
13. When our first dog died, my brother and I dug the grave for her in our backyard.
14. My brother protected me from my parents.
15. My brother taught me to sing the Diarrhea song.
16. My brother took me to the SCA.
17. When I was dismissed as a page, my brother picked me up again.
18. My brother sponsored me into House Mallard.
19. I know of Piers Anthony, Tolkien, Moorcock, Rosenberg, and Weiss & Hickman because of my brother.
20. My brother got me my first girlfriend and got me my first kiss (almost).
21. My brother used to let me hang out with his older friends.
22. Corlain, Lord of the Ferrets!
23. My brother called me first when his heart was broken.
24. My brother helped me make fake vomit so I could stay home from school.
25. My brother taught me how to juggle.
26. I learned to love scary movies because my brother was brave.
27. I was driven home from school in 7th grade by my principal for wearing inappropriate clothes and my brother (15 years old) told him off in our front yard for being a bigot.
28. My brother got me Ninja’s for my birthday presents
29. Jolt cola & pop rocks
30. My brother knows all the good movie quotes.
31. I played sock fighting with my brother in the back yard
32. Altered Beast, Golden Axe, and Gauntlet
33. My brother would make a fort from the old dryers in our backyard and we’d play commando.
34. On Christmas Eve, my brother and I would have a slumber party and he’d tell me Christmas stories that me made up.
35. My brother took me to play video games at the mall.
36. My brother took me on all the BIG roller coasters.
37. When my brother collapsed into epileptic seizures, I thought he was dying.  I thought part of me was dying, too.
38. Midnight Missions
39. My brother and I used to practice with numchuks and throwing stars.
40. My brother had me hold out my finger and got a monarch butterfly to land on it.
41. My brother let me take care of his dog, Wolf, while he was at college.
42. When Wolf passed away, my brother called me long distance to tell me and remember stories about the faithful, old mutt.
43. I wanted to have the same type of love that my brother has with his wife.
44. When I got married, my brother flew around the world to be my best man and to toast at my wedding.
45. My brother saved up his money when he was working minimum wage.  He saved it up to buy me Christmas presents.  A weight bench, an art table, a book on ancient philosophy, games, and more.
46. My brother let me play video games on his expensive new computer.
47. When my brother went to Spain, he sent matching Barcelona jerseys for me and my son.
48. My brother told me he was proud of me when I took care of grandma in the hospital.
49. When I talk to my brother, years away from our childhood and thousands of miles apart, it’s like we’re still boys again.
50. My brother inspired me to be a writer.

And I think about all the trouble, the grand adventures, the skinned knees, the riding bikes, the cowboy gunfights, the scary movies under a blanket, the wrestling matches in the backyard, I think about everything that my two boys are going to do with each other.  One day, I’m sure that my oldest son will look down at the younger one and think that they are the bestest friends in the world.  But I’ll know better.  It’s more than that.

They are brothers.

(see 5:07 of the following clip)