Sure enough, it's my little brother! Jon's biological age is finally meeting up with the level of maturity, calm, and steadfastness he's had since about middle school. Jon's always considered things wisely, never been hasty or impulsive, and has a great sense of humor that amazingly is never at anyone else's expense. He's just a great guy.
We pretty much got along well growing up (probably because he, being the not-so-hasty younger brother who considered things wisely, thought it might just be easier in the long run to do what his older sister said--I say this with shame, not pride), except for those tentative years in high school and college where we had to share a car. First it was the oh-so-sexy Pinto station wagon with the fake wood paneled sides. Eventually the driver's side door stopped working and you had to climb in "Dukes of Hazzard" style through the open window or crawl awkwardly from the passenger side. Then we upgraded to the powder blue Chevy Cavalier over which we fought when our social calendars collided (I think the upgrade helped our social calendars a lot.)
Those fights were almost as bad as the ones we had in middle school on Monday nights. We were allowed, growing up, to watch ONE hour of TV besides the Saturday morning cartoons, and of course, we both chose to watch DIFFERENT shows that BOTH aired at the SAME time on Monday. Jon chose "That's Incredible," and I wanted to watch "Little House on the Prairie." (I know you're shocked.) Mom and Dad settled this by making us take turns--Jon's show one week and mine the next--which worked out ok until my show had one of those "to be continued" episodes. You can imagine the bribery and arguing that ensued. I'm sure Jon's residual feelings over this were one of the reasons he was the first in line when TiVo came out.
Well, this past Sunday there was no arguing--just fun. Jon and Courtney and the kids came over a little early followed by the local family--Mom and Dad, Shelley, Joan and Steve and Georgia, and those Bisset cousins--Kate & Jay, Dave and Darcy, and their mom Barbara. And Barbara is now also a GRANDmom, as Darcy & Dave's little Eva was in tow--and I got to hold her for the first time! (Which I enjoyed immensely.) Dad showed slides (yes, with a projector!), Mom made Super Sinful Sunday Pie, all contributed to a wonderful buffet, and Courtney made the yellow cake that she let me frost--so fun, and check out how much of a TORCH it is with 40 candles on top! I regret that I don't have more pictures--I guess I spent most of the time in the kitchen, and I missed the sporting group in the living room: Kate, Dave, and Barbara, and I think because Mom, Joan, and I were all taking pictures at the same time, we were not IN each other's pictures. I wish I'd snapped a few more--so sorry.
The kids were amazing. We've finally reached the point where they'll play together for long stretches of time unsupervised, and it made me SO glad I'd re-organized and cleaned the basement as a playroom because they played down there and in the back yard a lot. Of course, Anna and Aidan are two of Evelyn and Amelia's favorite people, so that makes it all the easier.
Happy birthday, Jon. You're finally growing into the man you've always been. And speaking of pictures, you can find the birthday boy in the very first picture in the very back, holding Anna. :)
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