End of an era

Today my favorite brother signed a rental agreement to move out of our house and into his own place. I'm so happy for him, and it's just a couple of minutes down the street, but I'm so sad to be saying goodbye to having him here all the time. He's lived with Steve and I for almost 5 years, which is more than half our marriage! He was 12 when I left for college, so when he came to Biola (much to my surprise and delight!), we were really intentional about getting to know each other as grown-ups. Eric being an introvert, it took about 2 years for us to really feel like we knew each other.

I'm sad, because Eric has been here for the big things in our lives, especially watching Lucy grow up. She looks forward to him coming home every day, and they have such a special relationship.

He's helped with a number of our house projects. My favorite was scaring my parents about one of them. The guys had put drywall up on the ceiling, and one of Eric's jobs was drilling the screws into the drywall while someone held it up there. I called my parents, and in a forlorn sounding voice, said, "Well, Eric screwed up the ceiling." "Oh no!" my mother gasped! HA-HA! He was supposed to screw it up! =) Okay, sorry for the pun, Strandy.

So Bud, words are inadequate, but we love you and will miss having you here constantly. Don't be a stranger!