paul

I love that on Eliza's blog she writes a post in honor of her siblings' birthdays. So this year, I thought I'd do the same for mine and write each one a public tribute on their special day. Just count it as a little birthday treat from yours truly. Or a humiliating rant that you'd like to burn in the furnace of fury. You choose.

First up on the docket this year is my brother Paul.

-Do any of you know someone who is honestly perfect? Like really, really perfect? Well, in all honesty, Paul is one of the most perfect, Christ-like, loving, pure in heart people I know. Seriously. I'm not really sure how he hasn't been "twinkled" yet. I really can't think of a single flaw that mars his character. Have you ever heard the quote that says something like "Live so that every morning when you wake up the Devil says to himself, 'Oh crap! He's awake!'"?  I'm positive Satan just shakes in his boots the second Paul's eyes flutter open each day.

-Paul is fun. Growing up, he was always the one pulling the funny faces during a serious family night lesson, or always just trying to make the rest of us laugh. I'm pretty sure he taught me the meaning of the word "mischevious".

-He is adventurous. Paul should probably be dead many, many times over. I'm sure there are still quite a few things we don't know about him in this regard. Whether it be his flips and jumps off of cliffs while skiing or the various dares he's agreed to do on scouting adventures you can always count on Paul to push the limits of what any sane person would consider doing. I love this. I think all of the Young Men leaders in my home ward have taken a secret oath to not tell my mom about all of the things he's done to spare her from having multiple nervous breakdowns.

-He has some killer artistic skills. Please never ask him to draw you a Nebber person. You'll have nightmares every night for the rest of your life. Just ask Greg.

-I love that I had the privelage of attending school with him for a little while at BYU. Because of the spacing between siblings, I never was in junior high or high school with any brothers or sisters, so it was such a treat when I moved to Provo to not only have 1, but 2 brothers there too! Paul and I bonded over our equal detest for Biology 101, countless meals sponsored by my Dining Plus (I think Matt Smoot benefited from this a bit too), and the great *Parking Ticket Fiasco of 03-04.

-He's a fighter. Whatever it is that Paul puts his mind to, he gets it done. He's been this way since literally the day he was born. Everything from running a marathon, getting into his school of choice, to singing in the BYU Mens' Choir.

- Paul is the only sibling I have that I have no recollection of ever getting into any spat with. Cross my heart. Isn't that something? After knowing him for 24 years I can't remember any single event that involves a quarrel. That's just the kind of person he is though.

-I owe my marriage to Paul. Yup. He's the one that, on a spur of the moment whim, thought to line me up with Deek. Oh yes. We were a blind date thanks to my brother.

Paul is such a rare gem of a person - the kind of person that most only have the opportunity to meet a few times in their life. He is the perfect older brother in every possible way.

Paul, I hope this birthday is one of the best yet, and that the upcoming year is even better!

I love you,
Jen



*the great Parking Ticket Fiasco of 03-04 is quite the story. In short, there was a little mix up with the BYU traffic office regarding which vehicle belonged to which sibling. I was parking illegally a lot every once in a while and somehow a bunch of my tickets went onto Paul's account. Being the awesome older brother that he is, he just kept paying them, never questioning whether they were his or not. (Which just goes to show that he was parking illegally just as much as me, but he ended up just being better at getting away with it.)  It seriously almost took us the entire year to figure out what was going on.  I thought I had been so clever in avoiding those sneaky bike riding BYU policemen, but alas. Not so much.