I guess most people would remember when their first brother
was born, especially one that was longed for since who knows when. But even
though I was 6 ½ (and remember the births of the two sisters before with a few
vivid scenes), my brother’s birth 28 years ago remains a bit foggy.
Maybe because one day – July 23, 1986 – he was just there.
If I remember the story right, Mom had been to the doctor earlier in the day.
She went back later and was induced. Then Joseph Daniel Sturm came along. And
while I’m sure there was much fanfare when my dad discovered he finally had a
son, I don’t even remember him coming home and telling Katey and me. You’d
almost have to say I wasn’t impressed that I now had a brother.
And, honestly, Daniel and I never played together as Katey
and he did. By the time he was of age to play, I had grown into books which
left a gap in Katey’s fighting pirates from Swiss Family Robinson to be filled
by Daniel. He was probably better at it, anyhow. I was more the playing school
type.
Daniel was a funny kid. He went through a stage where he had
to wink in every picture we ever had, giving him a kind of scrunched up look. I
never met a kid who could get a whole crowd of adults to play tag just by
running up to one of them, tapping them on the leg, shouting, “Tag! You’re it!”
and dashing away. And when we lived in Connecticut, no one would ever get into
his room – at least, not without a knife. He had yarn rigged up all over the
place. Not to mention his dream of being Macgyver when he grew up.
In those ways he was different from me who had shut herself
off from most of the world with a pile of books. But in other ways, we were two
peas in a pod. Which is why we fought a lot. Mom said our fights went on
forever because both of us had to have the last word. I’d like to say I’ve
grown out of that problem, but I haven’t. Thankfully, Daniel’s too far away to
fight with!
Right now, especially so. Daniel will celebrate his 28th
birthday in Jordan, serving our nation in the United States Marine Corp. And I
am very proud of him and pray that the Lord will bless his day.
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