Friday, March 27, 2009

Happy Birthday, Little Brother! (or should I say 'bother' ;)


Today is my brother Keith's 11th birthday. It has been such a joy watching him grow up into a godly man. I know what some of you may be thinking, "Man??? He's not a man yet! He's just now turning 11! He's still a little boy." But the truth is that Keith really is maturing at a very fast pace. Of course he still loves Legos (he spends his afternoons building little tanks and machine guns, or something like that), junk food (I guess most adults love that, too), silly movies, goofing off, teasing his sisters, etc. but he also loves Jesus and the cross. He is, in many ways, more mature than many of my boy peers! (no offense ;) I recognize that God has made him special. Keith has a unique tenderness to people that you don't often see in kids his age. When one of us is sick or sad, he often comforts us in a way that only he can. I love it!

Ever since Keith learned how to read, he has picked up any book lying around that sparks his interest and reads it from cover to cover. And he NEVER FORGETS ANYTHING! I'm telling you, he's going to breeze through his high school science classes. Science has always interested him, starting with dinosaurs and paleontology at age 3. Yep. He knew (and might still know) the name of every single dinosaur. He knew their unique characteristics, the ways they communicated, everything. I can't even pronounce (much less spell) most of the things he was talking about. "Oh yes. Diplodicus was a medium sized dino with claws the size of butter knives on its toes. They communicated with high-pitched noises that they blew through their noses." (I totally just made that up.) This is the kind of thing we would hear every day. He also had/has a huge interest in all animal life. We used to get these "Really WILD Animals" videos from the library over, and over, and over, and over. I think, if you helped him a little, he could probably go through the entire "Bugs" episode. "Hi, I'm your host, Spin..." Oh yes. That spinning British globe that told you all about bats, worms, lions, hyenas, spiders, etc. I remember him well. Thank goodness Keith has now moved on to different kinds of nature shows :p.

As all little brothers do, Keith annoys me sometimes, but most of the time he makes me laugh. He makes my whole family laugh. He makes his friends laugh. He's just plain funny, corny, nutty, and witty. That's another thing I love about him. We share that special bond of goofiness. He knows just what to say at just the right time to strike me as funny. You will often find him and me giggling in the middle of the rest of my family having a regular conversation. Sure, sometimes what strikes him funny are burps and farts, but I just have to accept that as his not-so-mature side. After all, what boy (whatever age) doesn't have a fascination with seeing how many sounds they can make with their body? It makes me sick, but again, I've (almost) learned to accept it.

So there you have it. The confessions of a sister who really loves her mature yet silly, smart, tender, kind, funny brother. Happy Birthday, Keith! I love you!

3 comments:

Erin Dunham said...

Keith, you are blessed to have a sister who loves you so much!
P.S. Happy Birthday!

-Ben said...

Katie, I love that your longest post by far was a celebration of your brother and your relationship with him. Happy B-day Keithland!

Wordgirl said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH!!!!!