Just look at this happy couple! On the left is my beautiful sister-in-law Thalia, on the right is my ‘little’ brother Alex, together on their wedding day this past August. What a guy! He’s tall, handsome, he’s as smart as he looks and genuinely charismatic. He was such a little shit once. Eight years younger than me (he’ll say seven), he had a pudgy little face and a wicked tenacity. He sometimes had (and still has) a facial expression that reads ‘I hear you and I’m not going to contradict you but I’m going to do things my way.’  (The short version of that is, ‘F you’). Sure, I pulled some big sister moves like cheating at Monopoly, and sitting on him and passing gas (who didn’t do that?); he countered with chasing me out of the house swinging a (plastic) baseball bat and locking himself in his room with a knife. We engaged in a little physical warfare and a lot of mental abuse. Yet somehow over the years we grew really close. Perhaps owing to our parent’s divorcing, or him moving in with my family for a while years later, I think we’re not the average brother/sister relationship. (But you probably feel the same way about your own little shit siblings, feel free to correct me.) So he’s a lot bigger than me now and is doing some pretty cool stuff with his life, not the least of which is choosing Thalia as his partner. However he’s still such a stubborn shit! I recently learned that Alex refuses to wear a bicycle helmet, despite the regular pleas from his beloved. And what’s worse, Alex lives and works in downtown Chicago, travels home late at night in an area frequented by students and bar patrons, and the season of ice & snow is fast approaching. Never minding all that, I had a high school friend experience a very traumatic accident on a remote country road in the middle of summer… so riding sans helmet is NEVER a good idea.
Thalia has proclaimed tomorrow, October 1st 2010 as ALEX NEEDS A HELMET Day, we plan to bombard him with phone calls, text messages, emails (this part is fun for me). My kids have messages prepared, they are getting their friends & teachers involved. I have girlfriends making commitments who don’t know Alex at all. I plan to google gruesome photos of accidents and head injuries to send him (this works, it’s how I got my kids to start flossing).  And I’m asking you to spread the word and make your pitch, for my brother, for your brother, for whatever reason this moves you.
It takes courage to STAND for someone you love. To get in someone’s face and challenge them to change their mind, to make a better decision, to be the best they can be. I am so proud of my sister-in-law for kicking off her marriage in this way! Who will you be fierce for today?

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