*Emo side note: my brother's high school graduation was the same day as my college graduation. My dad came down to Birmingham for mine while the rest of the family went to my brother's. Not a major deal. Everyone was at my high school graduation and I am a huge daddy's girl so I would have picked him anyway. But after graduation, my dad and I finished loading up our cars and drove back to Memphis. When we got home, I walked in to the house and got sad for the first time. I felt like I had missed something- been left out. The kitchen was messy with remnants of a celebration and everyone was taking a nap, tired from the graduation party. Fast forward 6 years later (it took my brother some time to figure out what he wanted to do), after graduation everyone went out to lunch while I drove up from Memphis. When I got to Nashville, my cousins and aunt and uncle had already driven home, my sister had taken one of my nieces to a birthday party, and my parents were taking a nap. It was a weird deja vu. And not in a good way. (Remind me to bring that up in therapy... lol)
Anyway... back to the point of this post. My brother and I have not always had the closest relationship. As in, we didn't talk for a few years. We were cordial when we were both home for holidays but that was about the extent of it. Some of my friends from college didn't even know that I had a brother. I used to think it was just the age difference. He was just starting high school when I went off to college and so we didn't really "grow up" together, but there was so much more to it than that.
My brother and I are very different! Our personalities are different. We make different choices and different mistakes. For a long time, I just didn't get him. I couldn't understand why he did the things he did and he didn't know enough about me to trust me with anything. That coupled with my mom simultaneously telling me about things he was doing that frustrated her and asking me why we didn't have a better relationship, was recipe for disaster- or just total avoidance.
For a while, I didn't care. I had resigned myself to the fact that this was the way things were going to be. Then I decided that I wanted things to be different. I had always prayed for my brother, but I started to pray for us and our relationship. I was initially very skeptical about it. Even in my prayers, I wasn't sure anything was going to change. But then slowly it did. Slowly, but surely, things began to change. God began to change my heart.
I was thinking about it as I was driving to Nashville. My brother and I have a real relationship. Not just cordial, not just superficial. My brother and I probably have deeper conversations than I have with anyone else in my family. He calls to ask for my opinions and advice. We are friends! That is something that I never would have thought was possible! God not only answered my prayer. He gave me more than I even knew to pray for!
Garrett, I am so proud of you! I am so proud to be your big sister! On your graduation, as you are embarking on a new chapter of life and a new job, I challenge you to keep stones of remembrance. Don't forget how far God has brought you. Look on your past and see how God has intricately woven your path to bring you to where you are today. He has written your story for His glory! I am so encouraged seeing you pursue the Lord and grow as a man of God! I love you!
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