My Boys

Here's a photo of me with two of the most important men in my life - M and my brother, T (missing from photo: Dad). The photo was taken at the Rock around the Block festival in Chicago, right after T ate a burrito bigger than his head and amazed us all. This is a boy who lived on salad and blue cheese in his younger years so I was thrilled to see he finally eats more than I do. After a few spins of wheel of fortune at the careerbuilder booth I finally landed on the grand prize -- the monkey pad that M is so enthusiastically holding across my chest, and a whopee cushion, frisbee and lip balm that didn't make it into the photo. What a lucky gal I am!

Having T in town for the weekend was really special. He's definitely all grown up now - a college graduate, soon-to-be employed, fun-loving guy. He'll always be my little brother though and I'll forever continue to treat him that way. On Saturday morning I found myself waking up early to go get T a fresh bagel and cream cheese, just like my mom would do on weekend mornings. Due to our 4 1/2 year age difference, T and I have been in different places at different times. Me in Philly when he was in Ardsley, he in Boston when I was in New York, and now me in Chicago while he is back in Westchester. What matters most though is that we're awesome friends. We've reached that point where he's the person I call when I'm stuck waiting for the L and just need to chat to pass the time.

With that said, it brought tears to my eyes on Sunday night when M asked T to be a groomsman. Since I wasn't in the room when M popped the question, I asked M all the details of the moment (just so I could capture it here). M told me that T was thrilled and, even though it's customary that the bride's brother be part of the wedding party, was genuinely surprised. When I asked T later why he was surprised he said, "How would I know? It's not like I've done this before." True, it's not like a 22-year-old guy is supposed to know wedding etiquette.

So now the score is 2-0. Matt has 2 groomsmen - my bro and his bro, A; I have 0 bridesmaids. Stay tuned...