Happy Birthday, Jay!

Today is March 10, 2014. It is also my brother’s 70^th birthday. How did that happen?

He’s so young still. He is handsome and active and full of energy, so how did he get so “old”?

When my brother was young, I looked up to him, although he probably never realized that and might not even know it now. He was smart and talented and seemed to cruise through life with relative ease . . . up to a point. He had a few stumbles and struggles as we all do, but muddled through his troubles, all the better for them, I think. Experience is a teacher, isn’t it? That’s what our mother, Honey, would have told us!

My brother lives on the east coast and I live on the west coast. We’re over 3000 miles apart. For a number of years (I believe it was seventeen) when he was raising a family and I was wracking up a whole batch of mistakes before raising a family of my own, distance kept us separated. Through all that time, however, we were never really apart and that’s because we loved each other, as sappy as that may sound.

My brother is an architect, an artist, and a champion of the environment. He has designed beautiful homes and countless buildings that have won awards and allowed him to stand out a bit from the rest. Yet, he lives modestly, enjoys a good game of tennis, an ocean sail on his yacht, a walk with the family’s Labradoodle, Sable, an extended hike in the woods, and good conversations. He is very lucky to have found the most amazing wife, Heather, an absolute gem, whom everyone loves and admires, and I like to think he is satisfied with life, even with a few cricks in the course.

This is only my perspective from way out West, but because this is certainly an auspicious day in his life, I wanted to mention him on my blog and wish him the happiest birthday ever, with many more to follow.

Happy Birthday Jay DeChesere. I am so proud you are my brother.