In Which Stephen Leaves
Well, my youngest brother left this afternoon for boot camp. Once again—as so many times before—he’s made me feel for our parents more than I could have thought possible. I’m reminded of when they left me at AC: how happy I was, and how sad they were. It was much the same today: he was enthused about his new life, and we all were sad to see him go.
For my own part, I’m going to miss the guy. For a time after I graduated, my brother John was in town: we went to concerts, hung out in bars & so on. When he left for Grand Junction, there was Stephen: we did much the same—although since he’s not yet old enough to drink, we went to concerts and he drove me home from bars. We’d a grand old time: our trip to Berlin was the experience of a lifetime. All in all, I think that I’d more great times with him than with our other two brothers (although I’ll grant that John & I had a great day at the LoDo music festival a few years ago), esp. Tom, who was already at the United States Naval Academy by the time I graduated.
I’d been fortunate to have been here in town for John’s 21st, and had the honour of showing him around Denver’s finest pubs. I’d hoped that one day we should have the same opportunity with Stephen, but we almost certainly shan’t.
Our parents merit a thought and a prayer tonight: this marks the first evening in which they are truly empty nesters. After almost 28 years of having children this is the first time they’ve had truly to themselves. I really hope that they make the most of it.
I will say that I’m kind of ticked off. Growing up, when our neighbours took their two kids to Disneyworld, Mom & Dad would point out that we’d four kids, not two, and that thus we’d have to sacrifice now—but that we’d always have our brothers. Well, this is how the world looks to me: one brother with the Navy in San Diego; one in Greece; and now one with the Marines. There’s a good chance that there will be periods in which I won’t have a brother in this hemisphere!
Life’s going to be a lot less fun without my crazy kid brother around. Certainly, serving these United States is a noble life—but I’ll miss him nonetheless.
