Growing up in the 70's/80's, with two younger brothers and a dad with an affinity for action movies, it was inevitable that I would see a Chuck Norris film (or 20). "An Eye for an Eye", "Silent Rage", "Missing in Action", "Delta Force" and "Lone Wolf McQuade" just to name a few. NO one could roundhouse kick someone like Chuck Norris. My brother, Jason, was actually a 3rd degree Brown belt (one level below a black belt), and he idolized Norris.

As a pre-teen, I thought he was pretty damned cute. It was only years later that I learned that he's 10 years older than my dad! Ewwwwwwwww On that note... has anyone seen his Total Gym commercials with Christy Brinkley? He's 65, she's like 50.. what the hell planet are these two from?! Actually, I once read one of Christy Brinkley's beauty secrets...she rubs kitty litter on her face. Yes! Kitty litter! She didn't mention whether that was "used" kitty litter or not... hmmmm. Hell, if it'll make me look like her, I'll try anything. "Here kitty, kitty!"

Okay, so what caused this Chuck Norris tangent? Well, besides sucking beyond belief, lately, my life has also been made up of alot of weird little coincidences. I was at my mom's house a couple of days ago, and asked my nephew, Jordan, what he was watching. "Lone Wolf McQuade", he says. "This was my dad's favorite movie." So, we talk a little about it. I made some kind of comment about not seeing a Chuck Norris film for a while. The next day, I'm looking thru my Yahoo news items and see something about Chuck Norris. It's a story about some kind of website (http://www.4q.cc/chuck/) dedicated to spouting "facts" about Chuck Norris. I check it out. And for the next 10 minutes, I laugh so hard that I'm almost in tears. The whole point of this site is to pretty much talk about what a badass he is. Here are a few random facts:

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
Chuck Norris draws more blood than the Red Cross.
Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.
Everything tastes like chicken because its Chuck Norris' favorite food
and my favorite......
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

Jason would have LOVED it!

January 11, 1975

Like most brothers, Kevin and Jason had their fair share of sibling rivalry. Separated in age by only two years, they were as close as brothers could be. A big part of their relationship was goofing on each other. Kevin had a million nicknames for his younger brother. Each one more insulting than the last. haha (Out of respect for Jason, I won't share them with you.)

I will, on the other hand, share with you a poem that, at age 13, Jason wrote about Kevin. A little backstory here... my brother Kevin was quite the stud when he was 15 (well, at least he thought he was).

What really makes me smile, about this poem, is that it takes me back to when we were young. When life was much more carefree. When the most stressful thing in your life was if the boy or girl, you liked, called. When a little brother could make fun of his older brother, with no hard feelings.

Carmen

There is this girl
That Kevin likes alot
When she calls him on the phone
You can tell she's a snot

He asks her out all the time
But she's always sick, or a relative's dying
And when she tells him this
She's always fake crying

She's never said "yes", or even a "maybe"
But he keeps on saying, "Come on, baby!"
He says, "I'm the boss, you just can't admit it
When I snap my fingers, the ladies are here in a minute."

Just a couple of days ago, my mom was cleaning out her office. Going thru boxes of old work papers that had been left forgotten for years. I wondered why she took the time to go thru each of them, when I would have just thrown them out, sight unseen.

I walked in to her office, late that night, both of us exhausted, and she looked up at me and smiled. "I found Jason's poem about Kevin," she said. And then it all made sense. She had taken all that time to look thru each and every paper, just so she could find a small part of her lost little boy. A part that made each of us remember and laugh.

And on this very special day, that would have been my brother's 31st birthday, I thought I would share it with you.

Happy Birthday Jason. We love you.

(the above picture was taken on Jason's 5th birthday. He was quite the fan of The Incredible Hulk)

Goodbye, 2005. Glad to see you go.

The above picture is of my brother, Jason, and my sister, Sarah. It was taken one year ago tonight. I could never have imagined that Jason wouldn't be here with us now, ringing in 2006.

We miss you, Jason.