Happy 39th Birthday, Nathan!

My brother. Nathan, and I are 14 months apart. So I know how old he is because he’s  a year younger than me.

Nathan and I are bonded for life. Not because we are siblings….but because we survived a horrendous childhood and terrible abuse. I think it probably equates to soldiers …who have come through the other side of a war.  Nobody will understand me like he does and nobody will know him like I do. We always know…and understand each other. we can talk about or laugh at horrendous things in our lives because it’s a coping mechanism….and it’s easier to laugh than it is to cry.  Nobody will get that.

I had a break down earlier this year….when you are in your weakest moment of life you learn who your rocks are…who are the safe people to confide in and talk to…the ones who will never be mean to you, judge you , yell at you ect. The ones who will just love you and be kind. Nathan is this man. Nathan is kind, hates confrontation, won’t fight….tries to accept everyone….until he has been used, hurt or taken advantage of–> for a length of time…then he cuts you off. Fortunately, I have always been on his good side…but honestly I always try to protect him..I am the Big sister and quite frankly he has been abused enough by our parents. So I refuse to bring any more pain to him.

What I love about Nathan is that we work well together..we don’t have to talk..we have a certain rhythm that we just know….and the magic happens. He is always funny, loves music and shopping..he has an addiction to amazon.LOL  ( basically he is like me?), he is kind, loves animals, kids and he is a good hearted man. He is one of the best people I know…or will ever know.

My brother was the best uncle to my kids when they were growing up….we would go to the beach and if they wanted to be buried in the sand 20 times…he would bury them 20 times. I would get tired..he would keep going. If they wanted to hike up the HUGE 30 story water slide— while dragging a ginormous tube..my brother would haul that tube all the way up for them….if they wanted ice cream at the theme park for lunch..guess who would buy it for them>? Uncle Nathan. Who gifted all of the graduates with lap tops? Uncle Nathan.

I so appreciated that. So today is my Brother’s 39th birthday and some changes are happening. He is relocating from Seattle. ( Seattle is about 2-2.5 hours from my house)……he can choose to relocate anywhere…but he is moving to our small town so that he can be near to me. He will have a more quiet way of life, less traffic, less shopping, more rattlesnakes ( lol), and be near his sister. I thought it was the sweetest thing…I assumed they would move to our hometown of Spokane…but he called and said…”I would rather move closer to my sister”…he didn’t want to move that close to our other family members because nobody would willingly want to put themselves in that situation…so much chaos. I am so looking forward to having him near me. You don’t even know how over the moon I am ….so today we are out looking at houses. They are in a rush to find a house because the city is buying their current house ( a freeway is being built through their home) …so they are trying to figure out exactly what will work to suit their needs in our small community.

I am always thankful for the way God works out these plans. I honestly am not a huge fan of Ephrata ( where I live) it’s brown, flat, hot, dry, and trees don’t grow here unless planted by humans…it goes against everything that I think is beautiful. I love trees and green, colors ect. I have been looking for anyway out of here..I have been stuck here for 15 years…and now that my brother is moving here ….It will be a long while…. But maybe if he is here I will feel like accepting more of what Ephrata has to offer?….Rob was offered a job in Oregon …which we turned down….which was a beautiful place to live. Half of my kids have moved away….but now that my brother will be here..I will feel like I have family here…and that might make me a fan of Ephrata. :)

So here’s to hoping we find the house of their dreams…a new chapter in all of our lives…and a great day to celebrate 39 years with my brother!!

Happy Birthday Nate! I love you dearly!

Your Sissy.