But what about Sibling's Day? (Actually there is one in the works for April 10th but that kind of detracts from my blog entry here).
Besides, a Sibling's Day shouldn't be designated to just one day. When is the last time you did something nice, unexpected, or just dropped a quick note to a sibling? Trust me, it can feel very rewarding to do something for your brother or sister... and it feels even better when they do something in return.
As I look back on 2009 and ahead to 2010, I am reminded how special my only sibling is to me. My brother Ted and I have always been close, but this year was different.
I'm not sure if we are making up for lost time when I was in college and he was in the Air Force, or if we are just at a point in our lives where we realize how cool it is to hear someone say "Wow, you did that for me?"
A few of my favorite memories include:
* Two trips up Lookout Mountain as we trained for Ride the Rockies. I beat him up the first
time. He kicked my butt on the second trip a few weeks later. I smiled the whole way up because I knew he worked his rear off between the two rides.* In June we spent 7 days together riding 380 miles for Ride the Rockies. No families, just him and me, plus 2,000 friends we made on the tour. We soaked in everything, from the small towns to the big mountain passes. I remember "knocking" on his tent door one frigid morning in Leadville with a hot latte for him. He looked like a 5 year old at Christmas.
* In September I competed in the Harvest Moon Triathlon at the Aurora Reservoir (1/2 Ironman distance). It was a hilly course on both the bike and run. At about mile 12 1/2 I was running up
yet another hill, cursing under my breath and wondering if I had enough juice to run the final 1/2 mile. I looked up at the top of the hill and saw a guy wearing a Copper Triangle jacket and thought "Hey, I have a jacket like that." Turns out so does Ted. It was him with his wife and two girls ringing cowbells and cheering me on. Total surprise. Suddenly I had wings as he ran with me a bit and I finished on a high.Still to come:
* Las Vegas Marathon in December. I am running the full marathon while my husband and Ted's wife are running the half. Ted is our support staff. He has it all mapped out and is set up to receive text messages from all our timing chips so he can keep track of where we are. Most importantly, I'll have peace of mind because I know he'll be checking on my hubby (who had brain surgery in January). It's a little ironic because Ted "babysat" Mike the day after he came home from the hospital so I could take our son to his basketball game. Now he'll watch over Mike running 13.1 miles less than 11 months later!
* Ironman St. George 2010. Next May I am competing in my first full Ironman distance triathlon. Because of some previous commitments, my husband can't go, so I asked Ted if he would be up for a road trip to Utah. He didn't even hesitate saying yes.
I hope I've reached out to him as much as he has for me, but as I look at this list, I think I have some work to do.
If you have a sibling (or two or three), take a couple minutes and think about what might bring a smile to him or her. It doesn't have to cost you a penny, only your time.
Wouldn't it be nice to hear "Wow, you did that for me?"
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