Please note: this really isn't a blatant suck-up prior to the big Thanksgiving visit. Really.
I met my other brother Mike in 1995. I think we met the same night I met Cute Brian. There were Frisbees. And olfactory injuries. But Mike and I didn't actually bond until one night when he walked into the newsroom and explained that he needed to drive to Champaign (we were in Charleston, about an hour away) because that's where the nearest Kinko's was.
I tossed him my keys. Sure, I didn't really know the guy, but he needed a car, and I had one. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.
We've been close ever since. He named my car (Lolita, because she had a little shimmy in the front end) and became my brother in the span of about a week. Seriously, he couldn't be more my brother if we were actually related. His family loves me unconditionally, and includes me like a sibling and daughter ... sometimes even better than my "actual" family. And both he and I admit that while we share an emotional connection, we find one another physically repulsive.
See? Brother/sister.
So yesterday I was talking to my sister Pat, and she asked me if Mike and Rae would be visiting with the fam when they're in town. "I just want to see that cute baby!" she said. (I'm sure that will make the parents happy!) I relate that story to Mike, and what does he say? "Whether we visit with your sisters or not will depend entirely on how they treat my Maggie."
HA! We will withhold Kaylee privileges if my sisters don't play nice! Isn't it just like a brother to do that? The truth is, I always wanted that kind of brother - the kind who sticks up for me, tells me when I'm being a bitch, isn't afraid to punch me in the shoulder (the actual shoulder, not the boob,) drinks beer with me and lets me chew on his kid's cheeks. It only took me 30 years to find him. And because he had the good sense to marry one of my other best friends, getting together with family just makes my soul smile.
And they're gonna be here in a week! I can't wait!
2 comments:
Other great moments in Mike/Maggie history:
Seeing my (future) wife naked for the first (hubba hubba) time in Maggie's apartment while she (Maggie) made us Mac and Cheese.
Getting pulled over by a cop in the dead of winter while walking.
Coining the term "shoulders."
Driving down to see me on my 21st birthday so she could buy me my first legal beer ... deciding it was pretty boring and going to see the new James Bond flick (which wasn't much better.)
Tequila.
Being downtown to see Hello Dave the same night the Bulls managed to win another title.
Spring break. (Most of it.)
There are a few others ... but the kid's unhappy and I've gotta get to work ...
Driving him to have his wisdom teeth pulled only to have him proclaim "I can't feel my fucking face" loudly in the waiting room.
Mother's Day 1997 ... although I suppose that's only memorable to Mike in the rearview mirror.
St. Louis, Marco Polo and the tunnels.
Liv Tyler Fest.
Spring break (even the bad parts are an important part of history.)
"Your mom."
Post a Comment