brotherly love

Carter again showed us what an awesome older brother he is. The boys are going to play in a basketball league this summer. We weren't sure how they would split the ages but figured they would probably not be on the same team. Allen came home and told Carter that the age group was 8-10 so Carter and Jared would be on the same team. You would have thought that Carter had just won the lottery. He was so excited-"Yes! That's awesome! We finally get to play together!!" Now I know that this is not a normal reaction for an older brother. But it is a normal reaction for Carter. For as long as I can remember Carter has loved being with his brother (and the other way around). He never treats him like anything less than a best friend. When Carter has friends over he never thinks about not including Jared. As he and his friend run outside to play I will hear Carter yell, "come on Jared, we are going outside now". I have tried to convey to Jared how lucky he is and I think he gets it. In fact, at bedtime of the day of finding out they were on the same team, Carter expressed to me (in front of Jared) that he was so happy about them playing together that he tried really hard all day to not argue with Jared. When I asked him why, he tried to put it into words, but had a hard time, and finally said, "I don't know, I just love him so much".

As I think about this love Carter has for his younger brother, it reminds me of my older sister, Lisa. We were the same age apart as my boys-2 years. When I think back on my childhood and teenage years I remember feeling this same kind of love. I felt like I was never excluded from her and her friends and that she truly looked at me as a friend, an equal. I felt like she really did like to spend time with me.(If this is untrue Lisa, don't tell me, let me live the dream.) So maybe this is where Carter gets this wonderful trait, from his Aunt Lisa.