Patrick saved me once- probably more than once, really. He's four years older than me, & was always just above my peer group, & thus... never really a close friend growing up. It changed when we ended up in the same city for college. I transferred down to Provo mid-year after a {very} rocky start at a liberal university in Washington that I thought was the best fit for me {a story for another day}. After arriving in Provo, finding myself in a random apartment with even more random people, & realizing that that I knew no one & had no friends, my brother proved me wrong. He was quickly my friend, & soon became my best. Likely understanding that I was just two siblings away from being totally & absolutely alone, I got a phone call from him on one of my first evenings there. He took me to the Nicklecade on State Street in Orem & we played video games. Just a fun brother-sister date. Not a big deal, but such a big deal. He won a little rubber monster finger puppet & gave it to me. I still have it in my "special stuff box", because it reminds me that my brother is a true friend. I remember another time where I had to call him to come give my roommate a blessing. At 3am. It was one of those situations where I just needed my brother. I didn't hesitate to make that call, because I knew he would come, despite the fact that it was cold & dark & the absolute middle of the night. That night was a clearly a direct blessing to my roommate who still considers Patrick a very special person, & definitely a blessing to the sister that was watching. Patrick always constantly buoyed me up. He helped me make decisions not by telling me what to do but by just being him. He helped get me through a year-ish long bout of depression, confusion & uncertainty just by being my friend. There are countless examples of how he lifted me up... It was good to have him around..
We got to spend 3 1/2 years together in Provo. I like to think that we had a lot of fun. He took me skiing, we invented Fiesta Macaroni {think mac 'n cheese with chili, green beans, corn...}, had various social interactions with roommates, listened to Kalai... It has sort of been hard to grow up & see things change. I got married & moved away, & Patrick took off for dental school on the opposite coast. We're both busy. We're not lucky enough to live in the same city or even to see each other more than once or twice a year. But he's still my friend & he's still a tremendous example to me. He married an amazing girl & has a darling family. I'm just really proud of him- & I'm grateful that he's my brother.
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Happy Birthday, Patrick.
6 comments:
I absolutely love the fact that my kids are forever friends. It means the world to me. Each of you are wonderful and unique, and despite your differences will always be there for each other.......Aren't we lucky?
Just to clarify fiesta mac and cheese DOES NOT have green beans just chili corn and the macaroni. Other than that I believe all your facts are completely right and I agree Patrick is a great brother!
My fiesta mac definitely had green beans. Continue to make it as you do. :)
That is funny that since you were four years apart you never considered yourself close growing up- my sister closest in age is four years older than me and we were like soulmates growing up- I thought we were practically the same age. I wish we could have gone to college together too, that sounds fun.
I had to fight back the tears as I read this because it is so similar to my story with my brother five years above me. We weren't really super close growin up because of the age gap, plus, there's a brother in between us, two years older than me. It wasn't until I was in Rexburg, and he in Provo, with my sister married, and my other brother on his mission, that we had time to spend with each other. For the first time in life we were on the same phase. Single, and in college. Even though we weren't in the same town we spent a lot of time together, as I was in Provo a lot and he made a couple trips to Rexburg. We are now the closest of any of our siblings, and the only two living on the east coast.
Anyway, I loved reading about your relationship and could definitely relate.
Love those brothers.
That was a wonderful thing to give Patrick for his birthday. I agree with Mom - it's really nice that the kids are such good friends. The only thing I could add is that MY Fiesta Mac is made with Mexican Jumping Beans. Yummy!
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