My "Baby" Brother

Like all of us, my brother Caleb started life out as a baby. He was just a bit bigger than most babies…like more than twice the size of any of mine. In fact, my kids didn’t reach “Uncle KK’s” birth weight until they were somewhere around 7 or 8 months. Because most people don’t start out life at 12 pounds.

 

Perhaps, though, a kid with seven older siblings needs a few extra pounds in order to survive. (Especially if the nearest sibling to one’s age is Abby…) But despite that, I don’t recall Caleb throwing his weight and size around very much. He didn’t need to since God graciously gave him a sense of humor. A great gift when one is the baby of the family with a readily-available captive audience of two parents and seven older siblings. Truly, Caleb can keep us all in stitches. And there is no place he would rather be than the center of attention.

 

My relationship with my baby brother was very different than the siblings closer to his age. I am fifteen years older than him, well advanced in the midst of teen angst by the time he made an appearance on earth. To be honest, I never gave a great deal of thought at how our relationship worked out until my mom mentioned it in the past year or so. To me, Caleb was simply the brother I got along with. It never occurred to me that a 7-year-old chatting up books with a 22-year-old was bizarre. My baby brother loved reading. So did I. I would discover a book he might enjoy, share it, and we’d sit around talking about it. That’s not strange – right?

 

Okay, so I guess it is a little strange. But Caleb is an amazing reader. My husband thinks I read fast, but I’ve got nothing on the speed Caleb can devour a book. Nor can I retain the way he does. I will never forget when he was about five or six and he knocked on my bedroom door with the Chronicles of Narnia’s The Last Battlein his hand. I must have read that book three or four times, but I didn’t have an answer to the question he asked. In fact, I couldn’t remember that scene. I had to find my copy and re-read it. And I still don’t think I came up with a very satisfactory answer. But I certainly came up with a reading companion.

Today that “little” guy who I once took to meet Brian Jacques for his birthday is 26 years old. TWENTY-SIX!!!!! A grown man - quite literally when one is somewhere above 6 foot 2 and more than 250 pounds of muscle. And I am very proud to say he is an officer the United States Marine Corp. Perhaps that’s a far cry from the cowboy he dreamed of being…and horses would have probably been easier to herd that Marine recruits…but he is very good at what he does. Caleb has maintained a sense of humor and a real love for his family despite some really hard things life has thrown at him. I am really grateful God blessed us with all twelve pounds of him twenty-six years ago. My life wouldn’t be the same without him.