ERIC is HOME!

My little brother, Eric, is home! He has been deployed since February 2008 to the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. While he was away, he was promoted to E-8 (Master Sargeant) and now that he is stateside, he will take command of his own battalion at Ft. Meade, Maryland. In his Army career Eric has deployed four times, for about 18 months each. This 15 month deployment was the short one!

While all that recent stuff is important, it doesn't really describe the kid I have known and loved. Isn't it strange to see your younger siblings grow up and become responsible adults? Especially if part of what you remember from that growing up part would lead you to wonder if responsibility would ever surface? No offense, Eric. I know you'd say the same about me...

Eric was born in Maryland during a hurricane and Ma says his head came out on the 19th and his feet came out on the 20th. Ma chose the 20th for his birthday. What a beginning.

As a child, he started wearing glasses in the first grade and played the trumpet for a while. He loved comic books and was a neat freak - his room was always picked up.

I remember a sweet kid brother who loved duck tape. Once for an art project he made a life-sized replica of Spider-man out of chicken wire and duck tape. It was attached somehow to his wall in his room. Seriously, it looked like Spidey was climbing the wall. Eric was a scout, a good friend to many people and always had a philosophical approach to life. Adults always seemed to like him and he was comfortable with them. He never worried much, he always had a wise crack and could stir up some good mischief when the spirit moved him.

Eric loved Star Wars - who didn't when we were kids? (I'm dating myself, true. I was 10 when Star Wars came out in 1977, Eric was 7. We stood in line for tickets and begged to see it again!) It became a big part of our late childhood.

Eric used to live on a house-boat. Cold in the winter out there on the water and tight on space, but, pretty cool. I liked that little place. At many times in our lives, Eric's hair has been longer and curlier than mine. He has always been athletic and confident.

Eric was a great one to benefit from his older sister's mistakes. The oldest child always has to break the parents in, you know? Eric watched me and learned. Sometimes he learned what to do; sometimes he learned what not to do.

I was floored when I got the call that he had joined the Army. I was away at college and Dad called to tell me. I mean, the military has been good to Eric and his family, but, it is a scary thing to think of voluntarily taking a job that will put you in harm's way. His first MOS (I don't know what some of the Army anagrams stand for exactly, but, this one means his job, right?...) was Airborne Paratrooper. He told me that the first time he jumped out of an airplane he was overwhelmed with fear. The second time, and every time after that, it was a huge rush. I bet he'd still be jumping out of planes if he could find someone to pay him for it. He switched MOS to Military Intelligence, finished his Bachelor's degree in Criminal Science and is working on a Master's. Wow. You go, man.

Eric has a tough-as-nails sweetheart of a wife named Abbey. That's not her real name and I didn't change it here to protect her identity. I helped to change back when we were all teenagers working at a hole in the wall fish-fast-food place. I use the term "working" loosely. Her real name is Tina. Since my name was Tina, it was confusing to have two. So, since I was working there first, we changed her name to Abbey. Abbey would later become the third Tina Brumbley to be in our family - I was first, Eric's first wife was the second Tina Brumbley and then Abbey became the third Tina Brumbley when she married Eric. (And yes, we do tease Eric for his seeming obsession for women with the same name as his fantastic big sister. Ahem...) She will be the last Tina Brumbley, because those two are solid. They are still so obviously in love after twelve years of marriage that you know it has to be right. They have two sons - Tyler and Gavin. Here's the family photo taken just after Eric arrived stateside in Kentucky this past week:
I remember one conversation specifically from when we were teenagers. We were talking about how different we were. He said to me that we didn't have a lot of the same friends and we might never have been friends if we hadn't grown up in the same house. (Do you remember this, Eric?) I said it was true, we might not have been and we agreed that it was a good thing we were brother and sister, so we could be friends, too.

I can hear in our parents' voices how proud they are of him. They constantly worry about him, keep up with him and his family, and I know they love him dearly. I do, too. Welcome home Eric.