25 Years Ago

Mood: groovy
Listening to: Adam Curry's Daily Source Code #276
Eating: microwave pancakes, chocolate silk coffee, and water
Watching: my wife sleep on the couch

I was spending time with my Dad and stepmother with my sister Stephanie. My Mom (aka. the Official Mom of Journey Inside My Mind), was in the hospital:

I'm the oldest in my family, and I'd had two younger sisters, but no brother. I was envious of my friends who had older brothers and sisters, and sometimes lamented that God had chosen me to be the firstborn. Yet that changed once I got the phone call that night.

Mom called and told me I had a new baby brother, and they've named him Paul, after his dad, my stepfather. We all decided to call him P.J.: Paul Jr. As he got older and began talking, he'd hear my Mom call me "Daniel", which is my real name. He started calling me "Deenel". It became a nickname for me, I suppose.

When I was 11 years old, my mom and family moved to Houston, Texas to take advantage of the promising job market down there. My sister Stephanie and I decided to stay in Ohio with my dad and stepmother. We'd visit Texas over the summer and Christmas breaks, but, since I graduated from high school, I haven't been to Texas that much, and we haven't been as close as we might have been if we'd lived closer to each other.

In 1995 he came up with Mom, my sister Mandy, and my step-brother Richard to be one of the groomsmen in my wedding. I was 25 years old then.

Now he's been in the Navy these past few years, and naturally it's been a busy time for him. Fortunately, I've been able to keep in touch off and on via e-mail.

I wish I could do or say something that would convey how much I love him, respect him, appreciate him, and am grateful that he's my brother. Today he turns 25 years old.

Happy birthday, P.J., from your brother "Deenel".