Today I met my brother for the first time! I started out this morning at 7:30am. I woke up, took a hot shower and began getting ready for my day. All the while, thoughts going through my mind of what my brother may be like. Even though we've been texting back and fourth over the course of the last month, what he'd be like face-to-face was still a mystery. Did he resemble dad or his mom? Was he clean cut? Did he speak an accent? Was he as easy-going as he seemed in his messages? This is a day I've been looking forward to since he announced he'd be in town for a family reunion. My father called me a couple times before my departure this morning, making up his mind on whether he'd be going or riding in with me. He's always gone the long way around things before making up his mind. He decided to ride with me after all the hoopla he put me through. I left the house at 8:40am. The drive to my dad's house was peaceful. I rolled down the windows, letting just enough of the cool, brisk morning air into the car without messing up my hair. I was blaring the radio and getting lost in the music as I usually do when I'm alone in the car. This makes the drive to the city that much more enjoyable. Once at my dad's house, I knocked on the door and hollered out that I was here and ready to go. He came out on jumped in the car. On the way, we talked and caught up about recent events as we haven't consistently been in contact as of late. Dad has had a few downfalls lately that have left him down in the dumps. We arrived at the Denny's where we agreed to meet and ended up being 15 minutes early. We walked up and got a table as we awaited my brothers arrival. I was pleased that we beat the early morning church crowd for breakfast. It was nice just walking right in and not waiting. I was afraid I wouldn't recognize him when he showed up (even though I had seen online pictures of him). Once he texted me, alerting me he was there, I saw him and knew it was him right away. I nervously stood at our booth. He came in and sat down across from dad and I. At first, he didn't seem nervous but as the conversing began, I could sense a little nervousness. I was glad dad came with me because he was always good at sparking up a conversation and being social- I always seem to clam up until I'm comfortable. During our meet, he and dad mostly talked about the family my brother knew and the reminiscing of my dad recalling his past memories with his mother. They talked about alot of family in Superior, Arizona and even a big ole donkey brother has fell off of as a child. Dad went on to tell him about himself (past and present) and the reasoning he never came around or why we didn't even know he existed until 11 years ago. He shared adult stories of his cross-country trucking, drill rigging and acid hauling days as well as his jock days as a high school teenager. We found out about him during a trip to Superior, Arizona where dad was approached by the mothers uncle and filled dad in. Once dad knew, he called my brothers mom but she didn't want my brother to have anything to do with dad. Therefore, dad respected her wishes. I always had a curiosity about meeting him. Last month, I found him on facebook from the fact I'd gathered of the little odds and ends I'd overhear in conversations over the years. He said he didn't have anything against us for not touching base with him earlier, just glad we had the opportunity to meet. We got so caught up in nerves, we nearly forgot to order at first. I ate a biscuit and gravy with a order of egg whites with mushrooms. Dad had a biscuit and gravy with an egg and brother had a biscuit and gravy with hash browns. Brother put ketchup in his gravy... that was different. Different strokes for different folks they say. When we were leaving the restaurant, I had to have a picture. My dad asked this cute lil' grandma to take charge of the camera and snap the shot. Needless to say, she had a hard time with it. Bless her heart :) She snapped a good one though!
Our meeting was great. I think it'll be a nice start to a life-long relationship. I'm happy I have another sibling in my life. He said he'd keep in contact, as will I. I have a good feeling that this won't be our last time meeting up with one another. I wished him well on his ride home, gave him a hug and said my "see you laters".
<3 So Long For Now...
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