The first people I thought of were my brother and mother. They are the coolest and I owed them phone calls.
While on the long walk to work, I decided to call mom since it was early and she's in Texas on central time. I caught her making breakfast and she couldn't talk. Darn. When I was a kid I thought my mom was so cool. She was the prettiest, youngest mom. She had long beautiful red hair and dressed stylishly. I was always proud to show her off to my friends. When all the other moms drove station wagons she had a bright red VW Superbeetle with pinstriping.
Next I called my brother, Ray. Damn, got voicemail. Strike 2. Left a message. "Hi Ray, it's Alyssa, just called to say I love you and you're the coolest brother ever."
Ray called back a few minutes later and we chatted a bit. We quibbled over who is cooler - I still think it's him. He saw the unicycling video and we talked about that challenge. It was a short but sweet conversation.
I just adore my big brother. He is an amazing man. He is an especially great dad. He is so kind and caring. I'm so proud of him. When we were kids he picked on me plenty - underwear over my head, locking me out of the house, pinning me down then hanging spit loogies inches from my face. He had a way of teasing me and pushing my buttons then I'd snap, hit him and be the one who got in trouble. He was also my hero. I followed him around and just wanted to be a part of whatever he was doing. I preferred football, wrestling, cars, and pretty much anything with him and his friends over girlie stuff. He was my protector too and no one else could pick on me. I never thought he'd turn out to be the cool guy he is. He was never much into school and got in quite a bit of trouble as a teenager. His future didn't seem rosy. He turned things around in his 20's - became responsible, worked hard training for his career, got a good job. He is incredibly loyal and strong of character and still a prankster. I'm a very lucky sister.
This blurry photo is of me and Ray standing behind my mom's red VW. Since I was slightly taller than Ray in the photo,(he's 3 years older than me), it must've been about 1976-1977.
T
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