I grew up as the middle child between and older brother and a younger sister, each of us two years apart. We played together, laughed together, and sometimes fought together, but we have always looked out for each other. My brother has always been patient with me, allowing me to tag along with his friends on their adventures.

Adventure was my favorite thing about my brother. We explored the forest behind our house or went hiking when school was closed for a -15 degree windchill in the Winter. We built forts and fires. We played hide-and-go seek at the ever mysterious Rock Maze in Snaggy Mountain Area. Having adventures sometimes means getting hurt, and my brother has always been there to take care of me.

I remember one Summer day in the midst of family reunions and guests at the house, I begged my brother to take me biking. Of course, I crashed horribly and slide down a gravel hill on my side. I tore the cartilage in my ear and had road rash all down my arm. He helped me walk home and sneak quietly into the bathroom without anyone noticing. He helped my get cleaned up with no hullabaloo. I just clenched teeth with tears in my eyes as he tried to scrub the gravel out of my wound as gently as he could, and everything was okay.

People who know my brother know that he is laid back. He goes with the flow and remains even keeled through anything. What people may not realize is that it is exactly this characteristic that makes him so adept at handling crises. He does not panic. If he is worried, he does not show it. He calmly and logically begins to go about solving what he can. What he cannot solve, he quietly bears. He takes beatings not meant for him. He absorbs pain and returns love.

There is something reassuring about the steadiness and humble strength of him. He provides comfort, a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on. He is always, always there for me. He has given me much insightful advice over the years that I will not soon forget. He has answered my calls in the middle of the night and stayed with me until everything was okay. I was afraid that would change after he went away to college, but I have been proven wrong time and again.

Now he is getting married and starting a new life and family of his own. He is moving away and starting seminary in the Fall. I have no doubt that he will be as successful there as he has been in every aspect of life. I am so proud of him, and excited for this new chapter in his life. Part of me is sad also, that he will be so far away. Part of me regrets that I will not be close enough to see him on the weekends. He will not be able to come visit me on campus.

I will miss him dearly, but at the same time I know that this move is no different from the last. I feared that we would drift apart then, and though we perhaps may not talk as often or see each other as much as we used to, I feel a renewed closeness and intimacy with him that I did not before. It is different, but that is okay. Even with this momentous change in his life, he will always be my brother, just as he always has been.

I cannot express how grateful I am for everything my brother has done for me and taught me about life. I know that just as he has been a caring, thoughtful, protective brother he will make a wonderful provider and protector for his wife and family. I have no doubts that he will make a wonderful husband, remaining grounded in spite of uncertainty, persistent in the face of challenges, and doing everything to the best of his ability with great honor and commitment. I wish him and his wife fullness of faith, peace, and steadfastness in his marriage just as he has provided for me.