My Brother Al......

Well it's official ... I am a gigantic phony ... just a big old liar ... according to my brother Al.  Al is my older brother.  The oldest of my siblings ... the birth right.  I feared him when I was a child and I absolutely love him as an adult.  He is one of the smartest people I know and whenever anything goes wrong in my life he is one of the first people I go to for advice.  He is incredibly funny, one of the only people who actually makes my sides hurt from laughing.  Al had nicknames for us as children ... my youngest brother Carl escaped without a nickname because he was the baby and seven years younger that Jim. Lisa was "Puge Poge Page" she was chubby and he thought it appropriate for her ... Jim was "Honey Babe" cause he was a bit of a whimp at times ... and me I was "Pus" according to him the most vile substance on earth.  There was this one incident where my mom saw him with a beer and he threw it in the woods and claimed she had seen wrong. I searched the woods till I found the 1/2 still cold bottle and handed it to her in front of him.  So yes "Pus" it was.

Al lives in California with his wife and kids and we don't get to see each other very often.  I picked him up at the airport tonight.  He flew into Manchester NH instead of Logan in Boston.  It was dark by the time he arrived and I had to drive back down Rt 93 in the dark at rush hour and I don't like to drive on the highway in the daylight so I was not happy.  I had planned on asking him to drive but then when he talked about how tired he was I didn't.  So I was driving and he was in the front seat and mom in the back.  The two of them then start with the politics and the state of the world and the economy.... and of course those little pills the Dr. gave me were not in my purse.   I was gripping the steering wheel and really white knuckling it when I asked if he could please open his window... and then he asked why? ..... "I just need a little fresh air" .... why?  "I just get a little nervous driving on the highway at night and I don't want to take my hands off the steering wheel and" ....that was it ..... "Your only going 50.....Ohhhhhh well if it isn't little Miss I'm Not Afraid Of Anything Anymore" ..... all this crap about how fearless you are on you blog is bullshit!  Yup... my brother reads my blog and he likes it...which amazes me...but apparently I've been outed.  The fact that I wasn't wearing my brace on my ankle or the fact that I don't wake up screaming anymore is not good enough... so I admit it "I am afraid of driving on the highway .... don't like it one bit ...but I did it and I didn't pull off the road and go screaming into the woods like I wanted to.  Got us safely back to moms without a problem, which I am now looking at as a learning experience.  I drove on the highway at night and I am fine...just need to keep doing it and I will overcome this too.    

Lisa...Al holding Jim and me .... before Carl

with Carl

I love my siblings more than anything....well, there is chocolate.......