I have two brothers - I'll call them Huey and Louie.
A disclaimer from the gate here - my brothers and sisters are halves... Brothers have a different mom, sisters a different dad. Both of my parents were on their second marriage when they had me, the "love child", if you wish. None of us look at each other that way, but I'm just saying. What's sort of cool for me is that I am blood-related to all four... That's why I got mad skillz, playa.
That said, let me tell you about my bros. Huey and Louie have birthdays that are back-to-back... I'm pretty sure it's April 13 and 14. They are, I believe, 5 years apart. It might be April 12 and 13, and it might be 6 or 7 years apart, but you get the idea. Of course, I should know these things, but I'm way too busy thinking about myself pretty much all the time.
So Huey is the next youngest from me... I'm 41, so I believe that makes him 46? Anyway, this guy - if you saw who he is, what he does for work and fun, you'd likely not know he's my brother... He's married for - geez - 17 years or so? - a paralegal in Pasadena, avidly coaches soccer for his kids (mentioned in yesterday's post) and a host of other kids, of course, and is clearly regarded as the Burbank Soccer CoachMaster. He's very passionate about his shows, and amongst the favorites are Amazing Race, Survivor, Simpsons, History Channel and that sort of thing, and raunchy, disturbing reality shows with Harley Davidsons, Brett Michaels and such.
This guy, he goes to work all suited-up like me, works for The Man, and lives a very humble and respectable lifestyle. So you'd look at him and me, and you'd ask yourself, "how could these two be brothers?"
YOU: "Why, this one is short and VERY bald, and this one is TALL, and PRETTY bald."
YOU: "Yes, how can they be brothers?"
YOU: "Look here - this fellow Huey enjoys television, and this fellow Danny owns no television and only watches films on Netflix and Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job on Hulu".
YOU: "I find this conversation ridiculous!"
YOU: "Why, just look at the facts man... This man is handy with tools and building sorted things, teaches young women fyne soccer-playing antics, and this larger fellow is skilled with drilling random holes into things and creating uneven surfaces, breaking things, and translating Shakespeare. How can there possibly be genetic material involved here?"
YOU: "This conversation is making me terribly uncomfortable, for far too many reasons to list. May I please return to my cell?"
That had to stop.
The fact is, Huey is an awesome dude. Funny, charming, charismatic, sensitive, articulate, loving, forgiving, mature, playful, silly, creative, smart, sassy (a favourite Ziemerism), sarcastic (another favourite), motivated and most of all, has taught me so much about being a man. He shows up for his wife, his kids, his friends and co-workers. He's the guy at work who should be totally overwhelmed and stressed, and although he may be going through his work shit, he's always cracking odd jokes, providing funny and anecdotal references, and generally bringing smiles to the faces of others with his offbeat humor, which I would think is a rare commodity in law. The neighbors know him, they chat it up when taking down the Christmas lights or washing the car. He tucks his kids in at night when he can. He reads the paper and drinks coffee in the morning. Yeah, real man stuff, and that's pretty damned cool in my book.
As a kid, Huey was my first hero. I don't have the time - and this is certainly not the forum - to tell you all of what's happened from 1977 or so until 2011. I will tell you that those feelings of admiration went away, both out of his and my own doing. But I can also assure you that today, he is my hero again. I've watched this dude walk through some incredibly painful and challenging stuff, have gotten to share mine with him, and he has always had my back, given me support and been in my corner.
Louie is my big brother - I reckon he's 48? 49? This guy was always a joker, too. I remember, as a kid, there was always some odd and borderline-dangerous humor around various serial killers and such... "I'm not crazy. I'm the devil. And the devil ALWAYS shaves his head!" -Charlie Manson "Robbie, when I GIVE you a banana, you EAT the banana!" -family across the street. Okay, not serial killers I believe, but the vocal styling and mannerisms he incorporated into the delivery were of that variety.
This guy too - he likes the country music and swing dancing, so odd! I realized recently that I stole one of my first two tapes from him - Blondie, Parallel Lines. He was into the real punk rock that was happening in the 80's, going to shows in Orange County, and some of that rubbed off on me, but I was mostly too busy listening to A Flock of Seagulls and such.
So this guy has an incredible work ethic. He started working for a large grocery chain when he was 18, right out of high school, and has stayed there all of these years. For a guy like me, who doesn't really "do" jobs, that says a hell of a lot. He and I look more alike than his brother and I - he's 6'4", played basketball in high school, etc. Louie is generally regarded as the normal one of the family. A family needs that. I can assure you, though, that he does possess the Awesomeosity of Ziemerosity. Inappropriate, funny, charming, charismatic, generous, sensitive, creative... So much shared with his brother. This dude has been and remains on my hero list as well.
I can also share with you that, when I was in high school and going through an incredibly difficult period, he and his then-wife took me in and let me stay in their home. Believe me, I was no walk-in-the-park, and he demonstrated that love is action, even when it's uncomfortable. And being around me at that time was, I imagine, terribly uncomfortable.
With both of these guys, they've taught me what it means to do anything for family. These are those kind of guys. They walk the talk. These brothers of mine continue to demonstrate what it means to be selfless and unconditionally-loving, even when the conditions are such that it's not so appealing.
The best way to become a man is to have examples who will pick you up when you fall, and allow you to be there for them when the shit hits their fan. And these are those guys. I love 'em with all of me.
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