Thursday, May 15, 2008

A tribute to my big brother Mark on his 30th Birthday

I have a terrible memory. I have lost or suppressed so many of my childhood memories that I feel like I don't have any. But as I pondered on what memories I have with Mark, I was amazed at how easily they came. So here are 30 memories, or things you've taught me, and/or what I love about you Bud.


(I love how awkward we look in this picture. It's almost painful.)



HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

1. He taught me to appreciate, although not enjoy, the musical stylings of Jethro Tull, The Grateful Dead, and later, Dave Matthews (him I enjoy!) The playlist has been created especially for today!

.
2. He taught me to play Ultima, and LOVE it!
.
3. He instilled in me a deep love of St. Patrick's Day by teaching me how to catch a leprechaun. We would find the perfect spot in the canal behind our house and dig a hole deep enough and camouflage it so that when I leprechaun fell in, he would have to leave his bag of candy in order to get out. And then he would leave a note that went something like-

"O' ye laddie, ye caught me again!! Next year I'll be smarter and look out for your trap"


I still, to this day, believe in leprechauns.
.
4. He taught me that if you swallow a watermelon seed, a watermelon will grow inside of you. I believed that way longer than I care to admit.

.
5. I used to love to watch him draw. I would often sneak into his room and look at his sketchbooks.

.
6. He taught me to love reading. If Mark liked a book, then I wanted to like it too. Case in point: The Sword of Shanarah series. I'll always have a special place in my heart for fantasy.
.
7. One time, late at night, we watched Pocahontas and just laughed through the whole thing. He probably doesn't remember it, but it's a memory that I cherish.

.
8. He loved sneaking into my room at night and crawling next to my bed until he could reach out and grab my leg. I would always scream.

.
9. He told me that there were evil people that lived in a certain part of the mountains by our home that would come down and get me. I was terrified.

.
10. I LOVED his long curly hair that he had in High School. I was sure I had the coolest brother ever!

.
11. I feel like he taught me how to mow the lawn, and we'd always race on the paths that the freshly mowed lawn made.

.
12. Okay, this one almost made me cry when I thought of it....he taught me how to make freakin' AWESOME sand villages in our sandbox complete with rivers and lakes filled by our garden hose. We could spend hours out there.

.
13. Until I married a Marniers fan, I remained a fan of the Oakland A's for the sole reason that it was Mark's little league team.

.
14. When Mark had his first girlfriend, I loved to spy on them in hopes to catch them making out! I think I did once.

.
15. He let me know, frequently, that my bangs were atrocious and looked like a mouth that was going to eat him. I think that's what he called them, "the mouth". It made me sooooo mad.

.
16. Mark is the reason I grew out my bangs.

.
17. He taught me how to play around the world ping-pong, and I felt like we were kids again.

.
18. My college friends had crushes on him. I thought that was so cool.

.
19. I love his teeth more than anyone else's, because they are exactly like mine!

.
20. He let me make his wedding cake! Or I guess I should say, Mikalann let me make their wedding cake.
.
21. I drove his car to my wedding. I don't know why, but that holds a lot of significance for me.

.
22. He was the first to nickname my son "Action-Jaxon" and it melted my heart to see him love his little nephew on our trip to Yellowstone.



23. I love whenever he pulls a "Bud"

.
24. He always made my play goalie in our backyard so he could practice soccer and make me feel like I was awesome at it.

.
25. He has the greatest laugh, and shares it often. He also had the greatest sense of humor and shares that often as well. He's hilarious

.
26. He taught me to love pink lozengers, even though now when I taste them, they are terrible!

And while we're talking about food, he likes my scotcharoos more than anyones!

.
27. I always called him Marcus Peconius

.

28. He taught me how NOT to drive on an icy mountain pass

.

29. He taught me how to play Texas Hold'em, and also how to loose money at Texas Hold'em

.

30. He is far and above the best big brother our there and I love him so much.

.

Happy 30th Mark!!



Love your little sis, Stephanie

11 comments:

hedrad said...

Oh the memories. I totally forgot about pink lozenges. I want some right now!!! I loved the "mouth" comment. Made me bust a gut just thinking about all the random names Bud has for things. Sure do love that brother of mine. Happy Birthday Bud!!!

mahina said...

i believed the watermelon thing for the longest time too! aren't brothers awesome! they sure make life fun!

Jon and Sarah Jackson Family said...

It actually made me reflect on memories I have with my brothers. Thanks for sharing!

Bridget said...

That's cute your friends had crushes on him in college. That's gotta make you proud.

Elizabeth Dimit said...

I wish I had had a brother. They sound like so much fun!

Kelsey said...

My favorite memory of Mark is one time when you were here and we were all visiting when I saw him I said "Hi Bud." He got the biggest smile and said "That's funny that you called me Bud, my family calls me that. Did you know that?" I just laughed out loud and said, "Ya Mark I knew."

Mark said...

I should preface this comment by letting everyone know that I had oral surgery yesterday, and am currently on some pretty awesome pain killers--- but that post made me cry a little! I'm soooooo glad that you have some good memories of me! Those fun things we did probably only made up of about 0.00002% of our time together. The other 99.99998% of the time was spent with me torturing you in one way or another! I'm hoping that those are the memories that you have suppressed! Way too much time fighting over who was in charge of the TV!!! Anyway, that was great to read! I don't say this much (ever), but I do love all of my sisters. I feel like there is a special spot is my heart for Steph, due to the fact that she was my mortal enemy for so many years. She was a valiant foe, and knew well the power of perfectly timed tears in front of mom! Thanks again for the memories Steph- that was a dang good present!

THE REBER FAMILY said...

I had a crush on him too...and Sarah's brother Dave.

Stace said...

Great post. Love the whole leprechaun thing. I still ask Mike about that sometimes. We need to do that with our kids.

Mirm said...

I remember the valleys and hills made out of your awesome sandbox. I could see it on my porch when Bro. Bulkley's trees were cut just right. Your family was a hoot to watch run around in your backyard. And low and behold I am now a part of it. Wow Scary!!! Great post Steph!!!

Dad said...

Wow! I cannot imagine anything I could want or ask for in this life more than what I have been given. The love I feel from my children and that I see and feel they have for each other is the greatest of all the pearls of great price on this earth. Steph, you are a very special daughter, sister, mom, wife, and friend.