self-portrait tuesday 1/10/06 much later

this picture was taken about 13 years ago.
7 years after i met my brother, tom.



when we met,
i was 19 and he was 34
he came to maryland to meet
our dad.
they didn't hit it off too well.
but we did.

when he drove away, i followed him to the airport
and, over a beer, asked him
a million questions.

when i got home that night,
i called his place in colorado
and asked if he would be
my big brother.
the next day, i got a message,
"yes. i would love to be your
big brother."

i can't believe that it took us
so long to meet.
we often talk about how crazy it would
have been if we had grown
up together.

sometimes
especially when we are laughing reeeeallly hard,
i feel sad about
all of the time
that was lost.

is it strange that i miss his
teenage-self that would have
beat me up and picked on me?
or all of the intimidating he would have
done towards some of the creepy-creeps
from my high school days?

when he tells me stories about
when he was younger,
i am sad that i couldn't have
been there to encourage him,
or kick someone's ass for him.
i would have been a cool
baby sister back in the day.

when we see each other,
(he lives in vegas),
we torment each other a lot
to make up for all of the lost years.
we hang out and sing at the top of our lungs
after too much tequila.
he is one of the toughest,
rockin-est people i know.

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