I want to wish...

...my darling brother a very happy, love and laughterful Birthday!

Belize by B

I have two brothers. And I appreciate that I'm perhaps somewhat biased in their favour but they are two of the most special men I have ever met. So different to each other in many ways but they share a quiet, strong, affecting quality and a warm humour that leaves one feeling lucky to know them and happier for being in their company. I feel especially privileged to call them friends, as well as relations, and they are also my true-life heroes.

B is the youngest of the four of us (I have a beautiful sister as well) and I am the eldest. But he has now and always has had a wise old soul. You know the type, don't you? I can't adequately put into words how much and why I love him but these are some of the reasons that spring to mind:

• When he was little he was the fiercest kid with the darkest, most intense eyes and even at the age of two, he knew how to stand his ground and say "no!"
  
• He fell off a horse and was trampled, broke his collar-bone, thumbs, and his leg in several places and when the plaster came off, he got back on the horse.
  
• He was a professional athlete and continues to this day to be very sporty (his latest challenge is kite-surfing) and yet he is the least stereotypical jock you might ever meet.
  
• He has a huge brain and a huge heart and is hugely humble about both.
• He adopted the name of his best friend as his own middle name.
• He shared a wild dolphin swim with me and understood what a profound privilege we experienced there.
  
• He stayed calm when a bat went off course and flew into our holiday bungalow in the dead of night, gently caught and released it, and was fast asleep again in 5 minutes.
  
• Although we can have long, deep conversations he's probably also the person I feel most comfortable to just be in silence around.
  
• He doesn't do small-talk.
  
• He makes me laugh and this is no mean feat.
  
• He's sailed across the Atlantic in a very small boat with only one other person onboard.
  
• He followed a dream and volunteered on a rainforest conservation project for several months, where he built huts and cleared fire-breaks, and climbed a live volcano.
• He notices the details.
• He surprised and delighted me by doing this and I never knew until he did, that he had a celebrity crush on Natalie Portman.
• He can moonwalk to Thriller but he has to have had a whiskey or two before he'll show you.

Oh I could go on, but he probably wouldn't thank me.

So I'll just say again, B, I love you and I wish all good things for you - today and always.

♥
k ~x~ ~o~