Goodbye Little Brother

I was honestly waiting to write this post for when I had more time. I knew it wasn't going to the be the easiest thing to write, but I know I want to share it. I have been telling you about my brother and that he is joining the Navy. Well it's official, he has officially joined. He is a seaman and off to boot camp. For some reason, the past week went by faster then I thought it would. I thought I would have more time to talk to him on the phone or just see him, but the days started running together and next thing I knew it was Saturday morning and time for us to head out to San Antonio. We decided to test it out and see how I do before we take the bike up to Lago Vista for our vacation. So Saturday morning, David told me to pack light. So I thought of everything that I wanted to bring to San Antonio and I asked myself if I really needed it. I was actually able to get everything down to fit into 2 saddlebags on the bike. I am pretty proud of myself about that so yay for me! I can minimize, but don't get used to it! So we came down to town and David stopped at his old bike shop to order new pipes for the bike and then we headed to my parents. It was really nice to stop by and sit out on the back deck of my parent's house. My dad just stained it and I do have to say, it looks better then our stain on our deck. (*Cough Cough - meaning someone should re-stain our back deck.... DAVID!) So we got to hang out with my parents and catch up. Then my Uncle Hector showed up to hang out and brought his new wife Ruthe and his step-daughters. It was a super fun time, very chill and lots of laughs. We knew time was coming and we had to head out to see David's Parents. I was really bummed out because I didn't get to see my little brother yet but my mom assured me I would see him on Sunday.
We hung out for a little with David's parents and then went out to see our friends play at a local bar and grill. We went to a place called Freetail. The only advice I can only offer you with this place is to stay far, far away. The food was bland, it was crazy packed and loud and the store manager, himself found it acceptable to treat me with the utmost disrespect I have ever had from an employee from a restaurant. He was rude and just a person I would prefer to never deal with again. When he yelled at his server right in front of me for misinforming me, I refused to deal with it anymore. I stood there and emailed the owner of the company from my smart-phone. I finally got a response back a couple days later with no apology and basically informing me that I and my server were in the wrong, but he hopes we come back to visit. Yea, right.
Anyway, after being beyond pissed out this place of business, I was to tired to stay out any longer and we went back to David's Parents at 10:30. I know, we are getting old. But I wanted to wake up bright and early to see my little brother. We went to my grandmother's house and right when we were getting ready to leave, my wonderfully smart little brother decided to open his big mouth and tell my grandmother that we bought a motorcycle. Thanks, Michael!. So now the focus was on our motorcycle.
Let me give you a little background about this. A super long time ago, my father thought it would be best to buy a motorcycle. My grandparents lived in South America at the time and my grandfather decided to come visit his only son. Papa comes to San Antonio and see this motorcycle, so what does he do? He rides and and immediately falls off. And gets a huge bruise on his butt. So he goes back to South America and of course, my wonderful grandmother sees this huge bruise and asks my grandfather, where did you get that bruise? Without thinking twice, he totally throws my dad under the bus and says "From Michael's Motorcycle." So what does she do? She flies straight to San Antonio, shows up to the house and sells the motorcycle while my father is in class. That is how my grandmother feels about motorcycles. So you can imagine how beyond upset she was that her beautiful, smart granddaughter decided to get on the back of the motorcycle with her rebel of a husband.
We went to lunch and it was honestly a great time. I was only able to take a few bites of the delicious chicken before I was too full to finish. We got to talk to Michael and bring up stories that we all had together. It really was a memory that I wont forget sitting around that table with my parents, brother, husband and loving grandmother. I even got to take a video of everything with our new HD Flip! After lunch was over we headed back to my grandmothers house to sit and talk. I love that my brother and I know so well how to banter and make our family laugh. When the time came for us to say goodbye, walking up to my brother to hold him, I could only remember one thing. The time I tried to change his diaper when he was baby and I was barely 6 and he peed on the wall. Yes, this was the memory I had when I was saying goodbye to my brother. And all I could say through my tears was for him to stay out of trouble.
The next 2 days, I probably talked to my brother a handful of times. Constantly telling each other how much we loved each other and how excited we were for him to go. But the day he got sworn in and left, I caught myself crying in a gym parking lot because I thought I missed the last call from my brother I would get for a while. And just when I thought I would have to wait 2 months to talk to him, he called me while the plane was pulling out of the terminal to tell me he loved me and that he will miss me.
I know that I might say from time to time how my brother can make the worst choices. Or that he has a lot of growing up to do. But he's 6 years younger than me, there is a definite gap. And this, this moment he is out training to fight for our country and learning what it is like to be an adult. I know that his journey ahead won't be an easy one and he will always be learning, but I can honestly say I have never been more proud of my brother than I am right now. Love you , Michael. And PLEASE stay out of trouble.