Cheers to my Little Brother

This one is for Ryan, my younger brother who turns 32 (how did THAT happen?) next month and who sent me birthday shout outs via the blog commenter. I haven't talked to Ryan for a few years, except for the occasional email, but it hasn't kept me from thinking of him often.

I have fun memories of Ry Guy from when we were kids. When he was a wee runt, I used to hold him up on my feet as I laid on my back and would catapult him across the room. We called this little game, "Hi Bye Chickens Fly". It's been passed down to the next generation and my boys routinely ask to play. In fact, just the other day I overheard them telling Zoe this is how we do "Hi Bye Chickens Fly". I had to intervene on that one!

There were the Super Heroes, Wrestling Figures and Matchbox Cars. Funny, most little brothers end up playing Barbies with their sisters. I ended up never owning a Barbie doll in my whole life, but somehow shared about 500 Matchbox Cars and Star Wars figures. We used to line up those crazy cars and pretend they were all going to a "Kiss" concert. Just couldn't get enough of Gene Simmons and Ace Freely.

I remember pulling ticks out of his bright white hair one July when we went camping. That was the year he had the Star Wars birthday cake from Kroger. I can still see R2-D2 sitting on top of the melting cake and Ryan's blue tongue from the frosting.

I will never forget the look on his little face when I convinced him that the red lights in the sky from an airplane were really Santa Claus's reindeer flying overhead as we drove through the night to New York one Christmas in the early 80's.

He always had high score on the Nintendo, but I am pretty sure I beat the dickens out of him on Atari.

Tether ball on the lamp post at the condos. Baseball in the backyard on Esther Drive. Nintendo at the 'plex.

Good times.

Hope you have a good birthday too, Ryan. Maybe I'll see you again someday.