The End Of An Era - A Tribute To My Brother

When I was 14 years old, a friend of mine convinced me to try out for the high school volleyball team. I hadn't really ever played before, and really wanted to play tennis. Nevertheless, it was definitely one of the better decisions I made in high school. My brother was almost six years old when I started playing, and that started the beginning of his volleyball era. Michael was enthralled with the sport. He became somewhat of a team mascot. He would shag balls for us during pre-game warm-ups.  Everyone on the team knew him, coaches included. We nicknamed him "Shag," and made a T-shirt for him (which looked more like a dress because it was so big).  Even though Michael didn't really have a choice on whether or not to attend a game, he was always happy to be there.  It was pretty special for me to have my little brother always at the games and rooting for us.

I got married when Michael started high school and did not attend near the amount of games he attended for me. When he was a senior in high school, I was able to get job coaching the JV boys volleyball team at his school. Truth be told, the motivation behind that was to get to hang with him more. We may have heckled and argued a bunch - but hey, we're brothers!

Now, Michael is a senior in college, and last night I had the opportunity to watch him play volleyball at the semi-finals of the national tournament in Iowa.  I haven't been to as many of Michael's college games as I would like, but I'm glad I didn't miss this one, because it was his last.  Michael and I have always been competitive, and seeing as how he has won a national title two years ago, I guess I can admit that he is a better volleyball player than me.  I'm proud of my brother. He's been playing volleyball for at least 10 years. That's a long time to commit to something. 

So Michael, I'm proud of you. You played a great game last night. It's a bummer that I'm not watching another game instead of writing this, but I'm glad I made it out.

I love you brother,

Eric

Codi's first day back at work...

Today was Codi's first day back at work. I'm not sure what she was more worried about, the idea of being back at work, or leaving me alone with the kids. Anika has proven to be a bit difficult at bedtime and usually takes anywhere from 2 to 3 hours to get completely settled and in bed. Codi was worried about bedtime so she asked me to have Holly come over and put Eric to bed.

The kids and I had a great afternoon. Eric was particularly entertaining when Anika woke up from her nap. He was bossing me around and telling me what to do with Anika. "Put her in the bouncer Daddy!" "She needs her nuk, Daddy!" "She wants her bottle Daddy!" It was as if Codi coached him to make sure I did everything right. It was pretty comical.

We went for a long walk to the park, and played there for a while. Holly rode her bike over and hung out with us for a bit. Eric made a new friend and Anika was an angel.  On our walk home, we walked past a youth baseball game. Eric was pretty interested in it so we watched it for a few minutes. I wonder if he'll want to play baseball?  It was hard to look at Eric and think in 12 years he could be playing on that baseball diamond with those kids. I'm in denial that he is going to grow up. 2.5 years old is the coolest age ever and there is a part of me that just wants time to freeze. He is so caring, kind, and considerate. I hope he keeps those qualities as he gets older.

Anyway, it is currently 9:56pm and Anika has been asleep since 7:04. I did have to go in there for 10 minutes around 8, but if she stays asleep until Codi gets home this will be a record. 

I love my kids.

Eric