Happy Birthday Warren

Being that today is Warren's birthday (this is not an April Fool's joke) I thought it would be fun to recall some of my memories of growing up with him.

Warren used to be a very skinny kid. (He's still thin, but now he has lots of muscles and he used to be just skin and bones.) Consequently someone (I think it was Mom) gave him the nickname of toothpick legs. I don't know how old he was when this happened, but he really took to having a nickname and so he created more for himself. The one I remember was "Washing Machine." I'm guessing he was about 3 or 4 because any kid older than that would probably not choose the nickname "Washing machine". And how did he come up with that nickname idea anyway? I don't know. But at one time he enjoyed being called Warren John Washing Machine Toothpick Legs.

Warren was also the best joke teller in our house. Not only was he good at telling jokes, but he was really good at making up his own. I can no longer remember the specifics of any of his personal jokes, but I do remember the results of his telling them. His joke telling skills were usually at their peak on Sunday afternoons at the dinner table when we were supposed to be eating and Dad was not home because he was at some meeting. Mom, had the job of trying to get us to behave at the table and eat our lunch/dinner with some form of manners. Thanks to Warren's joke telling talent it would not be long before the 4 of us kids would be laughing out of control and one or more of us would get sent to our rooms "until we could settle down". I remember many a trip to my bedroom where I would take lots of deep breaths trying to quiet my giggles, only to return to the kitchen, take one look at my siblings and erupt into laughter again. I would not even wait for Mom to say anything. I would just turn around a walk back to my room. I don't think Mom would agree, but I remember those Sunday lunches/dinners very fondly. Thanks Warren for making them possible. :-)

All in all, Warren was a great little brother. (I don't know that the same can be said for my other little brother but that is the subject for another post... and now that we are adults I think he's great too.) I don't really remember having any disagreements or conflicts with Warren. Well, maybe one. There was the one time that Leah and I were babysitting the boys and locked them in their room by tying their door shut. They were doing something we didn't like, or weren't listening to us when we told them to do something, or something else.

I do remember wrestling with Warren. He wrestled in Middle School and I enjoyed having him teach me what he knew and then using it on him to pin him to the living room floor. Not that I was a superior wrestler, I just had a huge weight advantage since I was older than him. Our wrestling matches ended by the time he got to high school and caught up with me in size and I couldn't win anymore. That was pretty poor sportish (is that a word?) of me to quit playing because I couldn't win anymore. Oh well.

Now that we are grown and live literally all the way across the country from each other (he lives on the southwest coast and I live on the northeast coast) I miss him. He is still a great brother... and an awesome uncle. I wish he lived nearer so we could hang out. He loves to swing dance and I would love for him to teach me. (It could be roll reversal. Leah and I taught Warren and Byron to dance in our living room when we were growing up.) He teaches school which I miss doing. I would love to get to hear his teaching stories. He teaches Physics too which I happen to love and wish I could remember more.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Warren. I hope you have a great one. I love you. I'll call you later today.