A Very Proud Older Sister

It has been awhile since I have written a blog. Work at City Year as consumed almost all of my time with 70 work weeks and has left very little time for any sort of life. But today I must blog. Today I am blogging to brag. I have been a little sad lately because I was not able to go home for Thanksgiving. I desperately wanted to go home to Galena for not only Thanksgiving but I wanted to see my little brother play his last football game of his high school career at the state championship. Unfortunately living so far away for the past 6 years I have never been able to see Bryan play football, something I wish I could have done and today I wanted to see him start, as the center, at the Illinois 1A championship football game but the distance yet again prevented me to do so.

BUT the distance has not prevented me from bragging about my little brother. I have never been so proud of someone as I am of my brother. While he is almost 6 years younger than me I was never around for his high school years so I never really saw him grow up, I had to rely on phone calls from home and the few times throughout the year when I was actually home. There are many times I wish I could have been home to be there with him, I would have liked to see his football games, his first prom, his horrific driving lessons (which were marked in many fights with the parents, something I can relate closely to), seeing him experience the joys of working at Vinny's, seeing the horrific hair styles he has had over the years thanks to sports, and many other events. My mom and dad, and even Bryan have been very good at calling me, emailing me pictures and such and letting me know how he is doing, while I wish I could be there I am greatful for those forms of communication.

This year I have had the privilege of getting some remarkable phone calls. The first call was to tell me that he was starting as center on the highly prestigious Galena football team, a great honor for any high school football player. The second was one about his grades. School has always been a little more difficult for Bryan but I have never encountered a high school kid (and believe me I have worked with hundreds of them) who has had more drive and dedication in bettering his schooling, he works incredibly hard and school and he never gives up no matter how hard it gets and it has paid off, he has overcome his hate for math and science and has received some of the best grades he has ever had. The third phone call was to tell me that he got into college. This is probably one of the times when I have been most proud of him and there are no other words I can say about that. The fourth phone call was to let me know that he was accepted into the Rotery International Exchange Student program. My little brother has been accepted into a program where he will spend a year of his life between high school and college studying abroad. It takes a lot of courage to not only take a year off in between schooling but to live abroad for a year and my brother has excitedly chosen to do so and I can only imagine what kind of adventures are in store for him and how much he will grow from this once in a life time opportunity. The fifth phone call that I have received from the family came today. About an hour ago I received the phone call that my brother is now a part of a champion football team. Not only did my brother play in this huge game but he started in it and helped lead his team to a perfect season. Bryan, like in everything he does, put so much work and dedication into football, always in the weight room, always pushing as hard as he can, and always showing a passion for the team he has played on for the past four years. His football career came to a wondrous end with a victory, all the years of playing football with the same boys he has grown up with is now over with a very sweet victory and yet again I am so proud of him.

I must talk about him a lot to my friends and to Jason because just the other day when I was talking about him one of my friends told me "You must really love your brother and be so proud of him because you talk about him a lot." It is the truth for both. My brother has turned out to be one of the best kids I am honored to know, there aren't too many sisters who can say all of these wonderful things about their little brother. Bryan has shaped up to be a kind, driven, goofy (yes goofy because his hair is out of control), big hearted, and generous person and I could not be more proud of someone. I wish I could have seen more of his high school years but that will never change the amount of proud I am of him. I love the kid and I am greatful everyday for having him as my brother. Congratulations Bry on an amazing year and an amazing high school career. Love you!