20/31 - Jonathan's Birthday!

And with today (technically yesterday at this point though), birthday time for our family has begun! Of our five family members, three birthday fall within one week of each other (March 20th, 21st and 27th). Jonathan is the first to get to celebrate, and I made it home tonight to share in some birthday cake with him, and some family and friends.

In honour of each of their birthdays, they will each get their own birthday blog post! So, today I start off with Jonathan.


As my big brother, Jonathan was one of my very first best friends. From skating together on the backyard rink to wrestling on mom and dad's water bed to walking to school together, we have plenty of fun memories together. I always looked up to him, and he always let us (me and Alicia) know how special we were to him.

Things didn't really change as we grew older ... we still enjoyed spending time together. Some of my most favourite memories spent with Jonathan in recent years is the time we would spend walking together to the university. During my three years at U of R, we would park our car (the Grand Le Mans!) several blocks away, and walk into the university. Often times, our schedules matched up, so we would go together in the morning, and come home together after class. I always enjoyed the conversations that we would share during those walks together.

I don't get to see him as much anymore, but I still consider him one of my closest friends. Each time I do though, it is always a good time. We laugh, and share and reminisce. He is one of my biggest encouragers, and I value his opinion deeply. He knows me better than most, and loves me despite all of my shortcomings.

So today, on his birthday, I just want him to know how much I love and respect him. And how proud of him I am - for the person he is today, and for the person that he continues to become. I couldn't ask for a more loving, thoughtful or caring big brother than him.