Big Brother

Some of you might remember the days of our youth when Gabriel and I not only did NOT get along, but could potentially be considered the worst of sworn enemies. Gabe remembers a time when I used a bloody nose as an excuse to get him into trouble by deceitfully claiming, "Gabe hit me!" (which, just for the record, I do not recall at all) Whereas I remember several instances being locked into my bedroom by a craftily tied jump rope and clever pulley systems.

As a teenager, I never thought I would see the day where we could dwell peacefully together. Yet once Gabe left on his mission we began to exchange letters full of pictures of fat little characters from Gabe's imagination and somehow all the old fights seemed to fade away and a friendship started to sprout. Over the past few years, I have come to respect and admire my big brother for his hilarious sense of humor, his sharp mind and a body overflowing with talent.

On Mother's Day two weeks ago I developed a whole new level of respect for my brother. Gabie was one of the speakers in our singles ward sacrament meeting. Burke, Dad and I sat in the audience, eager to hear what he had to say. From his first words, Gabriel had the entire audience captivated with his confident presentation of the role of Mothers in comparison with the role of Jesus Christ. He used the 6 steps listed in the Bible Dictionary that explains what it takes for a sacrifice to be complete, showed the correlation of those steps in Christ's life and again those same steps repeated in so many of our mother's lives full of selfless sacrifice. When he explained the way our mother's sacrifice of childbearing could be compared with our Savior's atonement for us; an act so full of love and selflessness, all for the sake of the child, the entire chapel was hushed with the profound thought. I have not felt the spirit that strong in a sacrament meeting in a long time and I was so proud of my wonderful brother's deep understanding of the gospel and the joy, direction and hope it can bring to our lives. I realized that I have so much I can learn from him. I look forward to years and years to continue to build my friendship with my amazing brother. Love you big brother!