Surprises

I have a brother. He's awesome. I could list how he's awesome but it would take a long time so instead I will share briefly that he often surprises me.

If you were to meet him your first thought might be something akin to, "there's an honest and decent guy with a good head on his shoulders who seems to be able to fix and build anything." He's not flamboyant and doesn't really attract attention but more than anyone would ever guess, he is full of surprises.

When we were growing up he was the brain and I was the brute force. We would often build forts out of hay bales in the loft of the barn. No matter the endeavor we always began most fort building efforts separately. In this case I would start by heaving a few conveniently placed bales on top of one another until inevitably the whole thing would either collapse or look just plain repulsive. Eventually I'd meander over and help Jedd build his fort. With Jedd everything was precise and calculated. Every bale had a place and every inch of space was accounted for. When construction was finished I would step back in amazement at our 3-4 bedroom hay-bale-condominium with elaborate halls, tunnels, and secret passages. Every time I was surprised by his uncanny ability to turn everything into a masterpiece.

Today he surprised me again but this time with a poem. I know, a poem! I didn't know he wrote poems. I didn't even know he thought about poems. I wouldn't have even assumed he would be willing to acknowledge "poem." But today what he wrote struck me silent, stopped me fast, and lingered with me all day long. Even now, decades away from hay bales and forts, he continues create masterpieces.

I intentionally didn't share his poem, I'm sorry about that. As stunning as it is, I still feel strongly that it is his poem to share.