Last night was a night just like any other. I was talking to my parents when my little brother came in to ask my dad to take him running. My parents were tired. I mean it was 9 o’clock at night, so they asked me to take him. I agreed and out we went. I drove him across the street and followed him at a 5 mph crawl for the whole 2.3 miles. I waved cars past me. I was not going to let him run by himself in the dark, so I slowly followed him the whole way, and that’s when it hit me. All of the fights; the jabs; the attitudes. In typical sibling fashion, my brother and I fight. We fight over the silliest of things. But any bad blood between us ceased for a moment. Admiration was all that was left. Here I was, an “adult," thinking that my kid brother was young and not capable of teaching me anything. But I was wrong. There, I said it. To me, he has always been “little” and “young," but I’m starting to realize that that is not the case anymore. My brother is almost as tall as me now and will be a sophomore in high school next year. At first glance, you wouldn’t know that he has a fantastic GPA and that in his freshman year, he lettered in four sports (meaning he played two sports at once for one season.) Instead of teaching him, as I’ve always thought I did, he taught me.

In the light of my headlights, I saw a boy who was willing to run in the darkness of night just to get a run in. It occurred to me that he could do anything. He had the motivation and the will to do whatever he wanted to do. So, my not-so-little-brother, thank you for teaching me that you are much wiser, mature and determined than I have ever given you credit for. Thank you for teaching me that I need to embrace the next few weeks with you instead of quarreling with you. Thank you for being an incredible human. An onion, just waiting to be peeled back, layer by layer. There is so much more to you than what meets the eye, so thank you for never failing to surprise someone. Thank you for being the teenage boy that loves children and that any parent can trust to make their children laugh. Thank you for bursting in my room to insist that I rearranged my room, and then to proceed to flop on my bed and chat for a while. Thank you for tagging me in hilarious videos and for cracking me up with your laugh. Thank you for being unafraid to be who you are.

Now, while you may have enlightened me, I’m still going to try my best to teach you something every once in awhile. So, when you are not finding that motivation and will that I so admire in you, remember that it is okay. It’s okay to have an off day. It’s okay to make mistakes. But it is not okay to quit. It is not okay to goof around rather than take your studies seriously. But I know you. I know that while you may not love school, you can be the Valedictorian. You have such a great memory and an analytical mind, so please, whatever you do, use that mind for great things. And when you don’t feel like running, remember that you are the boy that shaved eight minutes off his 5k time in just one season!!! Remember that you are the guy who lettered in not one, not two, and not even three sports, but four sports in one year! That is incredible and so are you. Thank you for showing me that you deserve the best. So next time you get under my skin, I’ll try to remember that while you may not be my “little” brother for much longer, you’ll always be my little bother (yes, I mean bother, not brother). And I wouldn’t want it any other way.