So It All Started When ...........

............ I wanted to show this picture of my brother and I reading. See, I used to do it too, but Jesse was a master at what I call 'reading yoga'. Somehow by chapter three of any book, he was all twisted around. Really. Incidently, you might notice that he's reading Nancy Drew. We had a deal going. I'd check out Nancy Drew from the library, he'd check out Hardy Boys. We'd read them, then trade. For some reason it seemed odd to him to check out Nancy Drew. He'd read 'em, of course. But there would be no paper trail proving it.

But then I started browsing all the great old pictures of my brother. For instance, this one. He still gets this exact look on his face when he's thinking hard about something.

And he can appreciate a joke, even if it's on him.

This is my favorite picture of him. Mostly because when I see it, I can hear him laugh, and we have the exact same laugh, and it's like no one else I've heard.

Here he is with my mother, my mother here is younger than I am now. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that idea.

I'll always think of Jesse as my favorite fellow adventurer/tree fort defender/partner in crime.

My second favorite picture of Jesse. He still smiles this readily, this un-selfconsciously. There is nothing fake about Jesse. There just ............ COULDN'T be. Jesse just has no deception in him.

We always knew he'd be a republican.

He was born first and hogged all the talent genes.

I remember this morning so vividly, the day he started highschool. We operated as equals at home, it was always a bit startling to remember that he was older than me.

Here another of my favorite pictures of him, taken on my birthday, I think. He's always so generous to me. But the best gift is knowing that I ALWAYS have him, to look out for me.