He turns 25 on Wednesday; but to me, Sam will always be my baby brother.
He flew home this past weekend to be here for a buddy who unexpectedly lost his father. He attended all the necessary funeral-related events - and then some - and we felt lucky to steal a few hours of his time before he headed back to his life in Chicago.
Without being too much of a sap, I'm so proud of the man my brother has become. Both of them, actually. But specifically watching Sam be there for his friend, when his friend needed him more than he ever has in the history of their friendship, speaks volumes about the person he is today. Every now and then it still catches me off guard when my little brothers aren't the little brothers I remember harassing all those years ago. Somehow over the last 24 years and 363 days Sam has evolved from a knobby-kneed little boy with white blond hair and pink pouty lips into a handsome man with the same full pouty lips; of course IIIIIII didn't get those genes.
Saying I am sad that Sam was home for the weekend in lieu of Kevin's dad's passing is a huge understatement. But saying I am happy and thankful for the six hours we got to spend with him might be an even bigger understatement. We kind of like you, Uncle Sam!
She follows the light from the flashlight. I'm not sure it's her brightest move...but as you can imagine, the adults find it more than mildly entertaining.
"Buh-buh. Buh-buh." If you hear these words out of Lucy's mouth as she's bee lining in your direction pointing at your navel, either suck-in that gut or secure your shirt into your pants so she can't get to your BELLY BUTTON. "Buh-buh. Buh-buh, " is fair warning she's coming at ya - and as you can see here Dad and Sam were her latest victims.
Lucy was playing with my grandpa, her great-grandpa, on the other side of the room and when Sam picked "Where's Spot?" up off the floor and recited the name of the book out loud, Lucy ran across the room, sat on Sam's chest and started flipping the pages. He had no choice in the matter and although she was making it fairly difficult to read to her, he pulled it off. Oh, and they did indeed find Spot. Whew!
