Baby brother all grown up

Today is my little brother's birthday. 24. 24! The idea that he is getting so old is a little bit scary to me, though I have no doubt he is prepared for it. In celebration of his day I thought I'd share some of the things that I like best about him/most impress me about him/make me laugh at him.

• He is a teacher. And a good one. He teaches a bunch of high school kids that could wear down Mother Teresa's patience and he never even blinks. He is realistic about their futures, yet hopeful and encouraging all along. He even took his kids to visit his Alma mater, resulting in an acceptance to the school. I'm amazed at this, because more profoundly, I am amazed he hasn't thrown any of them out the window. I surely would have.
• He does the best imitations of people I have ever seen or heard.

David immitating a really annoyed brother whose sister will not stop taking pictures of him. Perfection.

• He is an artist. An amazing artist. He has given me several pieces which I love to display. He has an eye for detail that makes his work unique and hard not to stare at for hours.
  
• He wears his emotions on his face. When David is pissed, you know it. When David doesn't like you, he doesn't hide it. While I don't particularly love this, I can appreciate it because you always know where he is coming from. More than that, I love that when he is happy because he has the best laugh and smile in the entire world.

Mostly likely cracking up due to a fart joke.

• He krumps. Seriously. And with gusto. Some of my favorite memories are dancing with my brother in the house and in the car. And not just a gentle swaying. I'm talking full throttle, balls to the wall gyrations and spasms. I'm not saying that either one of us are particularly good, but that doesn't mean we don't give 100% every time.
• He is a bleeding heart liberal. He loves politics and can out argue just about anyone, even when he is wrong. He has some serious convictions and he will fight you to the death to get his point across. He has a soft spot for the most vulnerable and underprivileged among us and has proven he doesn't mind getting his hands dirty in helping tackle those issues. I love all this leftist enthusiasm even more because I knew him way back when he was in 9th grade and was a staunch Republican.

If this isn't the portrait of a budding political mind, I don't know what is.

• His hands look like paws on a puppy.

He has hands like this, only more hairy. Also, there was another picture here, but SOME people found it offensive. Prudes.

• We both get Franken-neck pretty regularly. Genetics.
• As we get older we start to look more and more alike. While he complains that in pictures we always look like boyfriend and girlfriend (it is creepy, we know. It's been discussed and we aren't proud of it), hopefully soon we will look similar enough that people will either assume we are just happy siblings or from Appalachia.

Loving brother or sister or future parents of a very inbred child? Ew..I'm sorry. That was too much.

• David can have some foul moods. I mean, seriously foul. But the nice thing is, no matter how mean he gets, or whatever nastiness comes out of his mouth, he will always apologize when he knows he's really hurt your feelings. I have a million little notes somewhere saved from when we lived under the same roof that say the sweetest, most heartwarming things.
• When we were little kids and we wanted to get our mom's attention we would pool our annoyingness together and I would yell, "MOMM-" and then he would yell, "-MMY" over and over until she would come to us. While I'm sure my mother would remember this as one of our less charming attributes, I think it was pretty adorable. Go Teamwork.

I have a lot more things I like/think are funny about my brother, but from here on out, the stories/opinions I have fall into the category of things my brother would kill me for sharing. But I think you can get the gist of him through what I have disclosed. Starting in high school he began evolving into Dave. Dave is how his friends know him. David is the hip guy who dresses smart and listens to kick ass music. I like Dave. But really, to me, he will always be David, who danced our choreography while lip-syncing to "Master of the House" from Les Miserables with me around our family room. So Happy 24 Dave and David! I hope the next 24 will bring you more success and happiness than your bleeding liberal heart could ever imagine.