Labor of Love: From the Halls of Bossier High to the Shores of Tripoli

Today my brother became a man. It's a bittersweet moment for me. On one hand, I cannot believe the chubby little kid that I used to pick on is grown up and graduating high school. On the other hand, I couldn't be more proud of the young man he has become. My brother has made the decision to join the Marines and today was his enlistment ceremony.

My brother and I are eight years apart. I remember the day he was born, so I can literally say I've watched him grow up. I can remember during his toddler years he wanted to be independent and I wanted to hold him all the time, not unlike my own toddler. So I would push him down so that he would get upset and cry and let me pick him up and hold him. When he started learning how to run he would pin one arm to his side and the other would flap around. When he started learning how to use his imagination he would come home from the babysitters with all sorts of stories. He would wrestle alligators and various other animals. Sometimes they would knock his tooth out, and sometimes a kid named Kenneth would kick him in the head while he was asleep and knock his tooth out. But he always put it back in before he came home :)

As he got older he learned to hunt and fish and fell in love with the game of baseball. He would take our younger brother with him and would sometimes practice pitching and catching with him as well. We like to joke though that they are more like sisters sometimes than brothers. They can get along great one minute and the next they're arguing like girls. He is the oldest boy in our family, but to his three older sisters he's the big brother we've never had. He can annoy and pester any and all of us, but he will stand up for us in a heartbeat.

He didn't make the decision to join the military on a whim or because he didn't want to attend college or his friends were doing it. It's a decision that he made several years ago, but was not done lightly. Over time he has spoken with several respected people about it and gotten many different opinions. He knows what his options are and he knows the outcome. He is fighting for our country and putting his life on the line. Whether you're democrat or republican, liberal or right...I mean conservative :)...men and women making the choice to join the military deserve your respect and honor. They are the reason we can even choose sides in the first place. In the words of James Otto, God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus.

Today marks a new journey for my brother. A time to learn new things, about his career and himself. Today, at 2 pm, a group of 8 men and women signed up to join the United States Armed Forces. My "big" brother is now one of the few and the proud. Today I pledge to support you, honor you, and most importantly pray for you in all that you do. Oorah!!

"Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13