Everything Under The Tropical Sun

The youngest and fairest of us all just celebrated his 20th birthday last Sunday. We had a small gathering at our mom’s place and that was basically it. Great food and great conversations. It’s always wonderful to catch up with everyone.

Though he’s the youngest, sometimes it seems like he’s wiser than most of us… so much so that we take his age forgranted. It doesn’t help that he stands 6-feet tall either. It’s so easy to forget that he’s still young and so very careless. Just when we let our guard down and assume that he’s a responsible adult… he goes and does something stupid. Which is what we all did when we were his age: one stupid act and thought after another.

We don’t take his youth against him. We all understand that these are the things he has to go through to wisen up. Making bad decisions is part of growing up. But compared to my “growth rate” when I was his age, I’d say, he’s growing at a much faster rate. I was a stupid, naive, stubborn, and careless 20 year old. He is smart enough to know what’s right but still lack the self-discipline to actually do it.

He’s easily the most intelligent among us. My favorite story about him was when he was 3 years old… our mom was getting nervous because he still hasn’t spoken a word. No baby talk… No mama or dada or boo boo. Nothing. She even had that thing that connects our tongue to the bottom of our mouths sliced thinking that maybe it was the culprit. Still nothing. Then one day, out of the blue he started talking. No baby talk. Not single words… but whole cohesive sentences.

Can you imagine our shock when this little silent boy opened his mouth and started conversing with us like an adult? It was amazing. I bet he was just watching all of us getting so worked up about him not being able to speak. Smirking and laughing inside, just waiting for the day he’ll reveal his great prank on all of us. Kinda like how he is with us today. He’s just lurking and waiting for us to become ultra worried about him… then one day he’ll just surprise us with a great achievement. I wouldn’t be surpised. I know greatness resides in him.

Happy Birthday, Baby Bro!

It was my brother’s birthday yesterday… Kulitopher. That’s not his real name but that’s what we used to call him when we were kids. Kulit in our language can mean a number of things. Mainly, it’s to describe his jolly, persistent demeanor.

He knows how much I love him… and it comes so easily for me. He’s such a lovable person and i think that’s why he has so many friends. Mind you, most of his friends are the “close” kind (my own friend count consists of only a few fingers’ worth… his, well, maybe he can include his toe count in the mix).

One of my favorite memories of him is when he was about 5 or 6 years old, he went through this Rambo phase (gosh… I’m old. I doubt anyone in their early 20s could relate).

We used to play pretend all the time. We’d pretend we were the Power Rangers or the team of Voltron, etc. I’d happily play the girl part. No contest since I was the the only girl (my sister and I have a 9 year gap) at the time. Our maternal cousins in our age group were all boys and plus my two brothers… well, it was a chaotic riot when we’d all get together.

Whenever we’d play pretend military (which, by the way we always do)… Kulitopher would go run to his closet and pull out his red bandanna. He’d ask me or Hubcap (our brother between us) to tie it around his shin. We’d go on pretending to fight a battle. Every time… he’d play the part of Rambo.

He literally begged our Papa for weeks to buy him the military style pants John Rambo wore. Once he did, it was the only thing he wanted to wear out. He wasn’t happy with just the pants and the bandanna… he went and asked our Mom to let his hair grow out. Well, that’s when our parents drew the line. Hahahaha!

The photo to your right is a photo of my two brothers way back when… aren’t they just adorable???

Well, Kulitopher always had everyone in our family eating out from the palm of his hand for just being adorable. Now at 26, he has gone through a lot in his life but has always had a general passion for it. Always the jolly one… always the one who sees the glass half full… always the people pleaser (too much that sometimes it gets him in trouble)… the friendly one… and always loved by me.

Happy birthday, bro! I know that everything is not where you want them to be now but someday soon, I know things will start going your way.