How does it always seem to work that when you have a extremely busy day, one that should put you to bed early, you end up staying awake for hours past the time you should have? Or is this just me?
Yesterday, I worked a 10-hour shift. That’s a long time for me, who is typically a part time employee. Boss-Mark is on vacation, finally, so I have several shifts this week, culminating in a lot of hours. Work was somewhat stressful yesterday, as I only had a couple of cars on the lot, and a bunch of reservations, but I made it through the day. I was tired, as I close the door at 6:00 p.m, but I hopped in the car and went home and got Mark and then drove out to Genesee St to an Italian joint for Kevin’s birthday. The food was amazing and the portions were so plentiful that we will be eating pasta for days. When I got home, I thought I would go directly to bed, but I ended up not being able to sleep. And so, I texted Sahar who is 3 hours ahead of me currently as well as Kev, who stays up late. I told Sahar I needed to come up with something for the blog today, but I wasn’t able to brainstorm anything last night.
Then this morning I woke up and I thought- the characters of my blog!
I won’t mention Boss-Mark or Husband-Mark or the kiddos- they have all had many entries devoted to them. But it occurred to me that I often write about Kevin, and you may not know who that is. And since the other day was his birthday, today I introduce you to my oldest friend- Kev.
After I was born, it took a week or two to get me out of the hospital due to wet lungs. When my little baby self arrived home, there was another 3-month-old baby lying on a blanket on the floor. They laid me beside him. They took a picture. And that, my friends, was that.
My mother and aunt were friends with his mother, Sharon. The three of them considered themselves sisters, so it was no surprise that Sharon brought Kevin into our lives. It was no surprise that we were raised side by side in many ways, starting out in the same neighborhood as little kids, and then when Kevin and his mom moved to the suburbs, my family followed suit. I even ended up at my elementary school because that is the one Kevin was attending. We walked into Pre-K like bosses, already having a friend by our side while everyone else was crying and missing their mommies.
For a long time, I thought Kevin was one of my cousins. Eventually, I learned that Sharon was not a blood relative, but that never made a difference to me because the two of them have always been my family. I have always referred to Kevin as my brother, and I always will. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we haven’t had fights. We’ve gone whole years without speaking, furious with each other over some crap that never ends up truly mattering. But even in those trying times, I think of Kevin as my estranged brother. Because he will always be the closest thing I have ever had to a male sibling. Before Bernadette, he was the only sibling I had at all.
I like to make a big deal of Kevin’s birthday even though he doesn’t care for it always. He doesn’t like to build things up too much because then if they fall apart he gets disappointed, which is an emotion I think we can all understand. He feels the same way about holidays, too. Alas, I care not for his dread! I will plan birthday parties; I will buy you Christmas gifts.
I have known Kevin for 40 years. Aside from my parents, he was the most important relationship in my young life. He still remains very high on the list of importance to me, and I have always told everyone Kevin is my deal-breaker. If you cannot get behind our friendship, you can get out of the way. This caused a little trouble on the dating field, because some guys I talked to could not understand a male/female friendship like ours. One assumes there must be a attraction element involved at some point, and I cannot speak for Kevin, but that is just so far out of the realm of possibility that we have never considered such a thing. I read an article once surmising that siblings do not feel attraction to each other because of their proximity to each other as infants and toddlers. I think this may be correct, because I have never been able to look at Kevin as anything other than a sibling. Not that he is not amazing! Do not get me wrong! Any woman would be lucky.
I am lucky. I am lucky to have had a friend that I can rely on. I’m lucky to have someone who gets every weird little bit about me and has never once judged me or held it against me. I am lucky to have a friend who gases me up when I need it and calms me down when I need it and always has my back. I’m lucky to be a friend who does the same.
When I finish this blog, I will Snap it over to Kevin. He will probably read it and say “oh, thanks bud!” in the way he does when I do something nice. I am so grateful to have such a great friend in him, and I trying to be a great friend back. All I know is that I have an excellent brother, and you should all be lucky to know him.
Happy Tuesday.
Ham 'N Eggs- by Brigid Hannon 