Happy birthday, Mark

48 reasons why I love my brother:

1. Earnest
2. Serious
3. A thinker
4. Thoughtful
5. Loving
6. Funny
7. Committed
8. This picture, taken the day we "borrowed" the car to drive to DC
9. His family
10. Jean
11.Helen
12. Sarah
13. Grace
14. John
15. The way he treats his children
16. Pearl
17. That year he started biking and got so fit so fast
18. Grilling, cooking, feeding the masses
19. His unbelievable talent in art
20. His unbelievable talent in rendering
21. His ability to problem solve
22. Not afraid of hard work
23. His gentleness
24. His gentleness that I see in the way he talks to his kids when they are down
25. His gentleness that I saw when he was with Grammy
26. His brave gentleness with mom
27. His fieriness, as it is a witness to his beliefs
28. He puts his money where his mouth is
29. He has been helpful to me
30. He calls it the way he sees it
31. Forgiveness
32. Sense of color
33. Gives great gifts, including some of my favorites (a vacuum labeled "40 sucks" for my birthday, and a "Life is Good" blanket when life was not so good for me)
34. His relationships with his extended family
35. His ability to fix things
36. That he does not veer -- when he knows something he knows it
37. His love of rap music
38. The way he sings in church
39. Fashion sense
40. Hits the mother f***ing hell out of a golf ball
41. He loves what he loves
42. The treehouse he built his kids
43. His house, his backyard
44. He is a good son
45. He knows his kids intimately
46. Christmas mornings
47. Especially stockings
48. His smile, when he is really smiling -- it lights up

Next year, maybe 49 more...