My toast to my brother

Here is the toast I prepared and then read at my brother's wedding last weekend. I pretty much read it word for word because I knew I would get too nervous to just have notes. Having a brother that teaches speech as a profession, this also intimidated me. However, I am glad I had the opportunity. So this wasn't written for other's to actually read...there are probably huge spelling, grammer, and other technical errors. But you get the idea on what I said.

My dear brother is the middle child and the boy.   And as a mother now, I am so aware of the impact birth order can have on a child, without any intention…just naturally.   Greg is a middle child…I am the first-born…and my sister is the youngest.  My sister got paid a dollar to sit in between us in the car on our long car trips. He was the middle child but didn’t get to sit in the middle. 

He wrote once,

“I don’t talk to my sisters often enough. Though when I do, it’s always really nice. There are a lot of reasons for this. One is that we’ve never communicated that well at home because so much is going on. And as kids we fought for attention. Now they talk all the time, and I’m less often included on email exchanges. I also reach out less often, so it’s a two-way street. It’s just the way things have gone.”

He is right, Raina and I do email and talk a lot and he is left out of our daily vents and ramblings. HE doesn’t know what we are making for dinner each night and I am kind of thinking that he should be relieved he doesn’t partake in the two months prior to our cabin week discussing the menu and the sleeping arrangements.

What I do want him to know is that whenever I catch him, usually on iChat on the computer, I always walk away with a grin, a happy heart, and all my questions answered.

Greg is my go to when I need some research done. He always claims to have sound reliable resources. He is my 24-hour tech support now that he has converted me to the Mac World and apple computers. And he always inspires…

I am always curious what his latest obsession is. In this room I am sure there are a number of you who can say you participated, experimented with, or even became obsessed yourself with some of his obsessions…things that caught his attention for sometimes months, years, or became part of who he is. My brother Greg has a way with taking something he is interested in and showing his passion as he explains it to you often using hand gestures. Some of his obsessions could be listed as:

Jack Kerouac
Pink Floyd
Bon jovi
Fore arm strength
Wet Shaving
Bread making
Canning
Composting with worms
Bike commuting
Carbohydrates
Ginger ale
Swimming
Roth iras
Granola
Pickling
Cured meats
Ultimate Frisbee
  Crepes
Watches
Scotch 

Oh and this one… Cast iron pans – Goodness, one Christmas my sister and I feared that we were going to receive a cast iron pan because he seemed to be driving all over the country buying them. But here’s the thing, now I would love a cast iron pan that my brother picked out because like I said, when he gets into something you can trust he knows it inside and out. And it would have been a fabulous pan.

And the list goes on and on.

And now he has found this beautiful bride to share these obsessions with. As we have gotten to know Liz I think my sister and I can agree that we feel very secure in knowing she is a strong woman who can stand up for herself in cases where she doesn’t want to follow him down one of his obsessive paths in life. We also feel even more confident that she is the right gal to encourage him and celebrate the adventures he pursues in life. We also know that Greg will always embrace Liz’s choices in life. As we have gotten to know them we can see that they have so many visions about living life that compliment each other so well. And we are so excited to watch and be a part of their journey.

Greg once wrote on his blog about getting caught up in reading what he referred to as “skittles” Small snippets of news or information that give an immediate gratification of learning something new, funny, or fascinating – often online. He admitted that these “skittles” cause the books to pile up on his nightstand. He was going to test living by a new motto: “Don’t read the skittles” and rather crack open some of those books and let the skittles take up less time in his diet. So where am I going with this…

As you venture into your marriage and as you build a life together…don’t get hung up on each other’s skittles. The little things that might sometimes seem like the big things. Instead, nibble them up and see the big picture, the colorful picture. And as you live your life…fill it with lots of skittles. Remember it is the little things, the simple daily rituals that the two of you will grow to have…that will make this life that you are going to have – the best that it is meant to be.

  Cheers!