Day 22: CHRIS

Oh man. THIS GUY. What do I say about the brother who lets me visit whenever I call needing a last-minute escape from my life; who requests a slow-motion video be taken of him eating delicious mango strips; who calls me every Sunday for a quick chat and leaves a message hoping everything is well because he often can only call while I'm at church.

Well, I can say we share the same smile and a major love for deep-fried oreos, and I've got maybe 7 pictures of separate oreo obsessions to prove it.

But I can also say Chris has been the best 3rd parent I could ever ask for. He's always taken such good care of me and makes time for me whenever - whether by taking me in when the parents excluded me from their trips, or when I just really need the Walworth County Fair in my life. Whether I feel like going for a run, or I really don't but he forces me to go with him anyway. Whether I have some interesting thought I need to share with someone, or I have exciting news to share, or I have nothing going on at all. Or, like, if I decide to move to DC by myself and ask to stop by Wisconsin along the way, and he volunteers to let me stop for a bit, and then take me the rest of the journey himself, move me in to my new place, and do all the sightseeing possible with me right away. One time, he had an extended layover at Dulles airport, so he took a cab 30 minutes that morning to meet me for breakfast before I had to go to work, then he cabbed straight back over to the airport - what a guy!

Chris makes me feel like everything I do is awesome, he's such a great cheerleader to have by your side. But it helps that he's always been such a wonderful role model as well, so really, when I'm doing something he thinks is great, it's usually because I'm just living my life the way I see him live his - and awesome things are bound to come from that.

But very little makes me feel better than when he expresses how much he loves having his kids be around me - he makes me be my best by just assuming my best is the normal and viewing me as my best. He is so fun to watch be a dad to those kids - I love seeing what close and unique relationships he has with each one, and I love seeing how, though he travels a lot for work, he still somehow manages to be incredibly present in their lives. They all consider him their friend, knowing that, with all his responsibilities and commitments, they are his #1 priority. As I feel with all my siblings, I just think he's the best.

xoxo!