That Beautiful Forever

 

         I've never had a tooth pulled, so I have little license to say that getting my brother to take a picture with me was like that, but I can say it took some cajoling on my part. Me and my brothers are all a bundle of odd pieces. Parts that don't fit into society really, or with each other sometime. We're unconventional, and most of the time we're okay with that.

         Of course sometimes this leads to clashes especially between those of us with more similar personalities: two iron wills which refuse to defer to the other.

          Timothy and I are very much alike in temperament. We both state our opinions unequivocally, and without apology. We have a bit of contempt for anyone who cannot present a sound logical argument for what he believes, and we both will fight to the death for something we believe and neither concede nor back down until we have either crushed our opponent or become martyrs in the process. 

           These are all things we've gotten better at over the years and become more gracious, but still when we get in the same room with each other, it often ends in a hefty argument, with both of us walking away fully convinced that the other is incontrovertibly wrong.

           I guess, though, at the end of the day, I think we both have a bit of respect for the other because of it. I know I hold my older brother in a good deal of respect, though I was never in awe of him. He made me too angry sometimes for all that. 

        Now, though, I'm about to watch my brother take wedding vows. Tomorrow he will join hands for life with a wonderful young lady who is to be my sister, and walk through life with her for as long as they both shall live.

       I guess, I know now, that my brother will make a good husband. I know from experience that when Timothy says something he never recants unless he can be shown logically through much argument, and much good luck on the part of the opponent, that he is wrong. I've only seen him change his mind a few times in all my years of knowing him. I can count those times on the fingers of a single hand.

         Timothy's staunch refusal to back down from anything is what makes him dependable, hard-working, stubbornly persistent, and successful in pretty much everything he attempts. 

        Now, as he embarks on this wonderful new journey with a woman who is far less implacable than I, I'm excited for all those qualities about him that used to drive me up a wall.

        I know that the forever vows they will make tomorrow will be said with purpose and intention, not just because it's the thing that one does. I know that there will be honor, respect, and love.

       So here's to my brother and his fiance! 

              I'll raise a glass to them both and wish them happiness as they embark on this grand new adventure that is marriage. A beautiful forever.

            ~ Christianna