Friday, December 3, 2010

relative running

My brother is a family guy, married to a SAHM, 2 kids, 2 dogs and 1 cat... who serves in the US Military on the other side of the world.  I talked to him today on SKYPE and it made me SO THANKFUL for technology.  I could see him, hear his laugh, look at his crooked grin that looks like the male version of my crooked grin...  He runs his hands through his cropped hair the way I tuck mine behind my ears and untuck it from behind my ears...  it was great.

Growing up my brother was my best friend.  From the time we were about 13 & 16 until he left home at 19 we were inseparable.  We talked every day, and when he was at boot camp I sent him letters.  When he was deployed I was late for school (and got detention) because I drove him to the base and waited until the boat pulled away.  Those of you who 'know' me know that I'm never late.  So it was a big deal.   But he was in subs, and you never knew if they might change their mind and not "sail" that day... so I waited.

Today we talked for about 20 minutes.  It was the first time we'd talked in a long time.  The last time our connection was screwy and we couldn't connect.  We "texted" on 4th of July.  Seriously.  We texted.  And while that sounds lame, I was thankful for the interaction because it meant he was OK that day.

Today it was late for him, he'd been up for 20 hours or so, so he was tired, and he kept yawning.  It was a video chat, so I kept yawning back.  We were yawning together.

He's taken up running.  He's bored over there, so despite never running more than a 5K before, he's training.  And now we're racing each other.  He just raced a 15K that measured 9.6 miles.  Well, it's a military base, I guess they're not "measuring accurately" for the races.  This weekend I'm running a 10miler.  It's going to have to be "close enough".

And it's not really fair, he kicks my butt EVERY RACE.  I mean, seriously, he trains at a 8:30 pace!  He showed me his sprint technique from his desk.  And we laughed at how ridiculous he looked exaggerating so much for my sake over here.

But it's OK, because it's something we do that gives us something to talk about with each other.

It's harder than it sounds, by the way, talking across an ocean and desert.  Because there's an ocean AND a desert... and a sea and a few countries between us, I can't always say what I want to say, and neither can he.

Tomorrow's race is for the one's who can't race where they want to...

9 comments:

Amanda@runninghood said...

Awesome post. Love that you have a special relationship with your brother. I posted about my brother and I running together at Thanksgiving and how special it was to me. So thankful for family. I remember how much I missed my bro when he was in the military and over seas. So thankful for our freedom to run when we want to because of those people like your bro.

bobbi said...

Love this post...Thanks to your brother for his service.

gba_gf said...

Ugf, I hate it when I find not one but TWO typos in the same post. Thanks for commenting ladies.

Shellyrm ~ just a country runner said...

When Hubbs was over "there" we never did a video chat. It sounds great! Sometimes though, seeing them makes it harder. At least for me.

Thanks for giving him up for freedoms sake.

Enjoy your race.

justme said...

god bless him !!!

Rene' said...

How lucky that you get to skype. Isn't technology amazing? My dad was in the navy for 20 plus years and he would go away for 9 months at a time. He started running while deployed as well and ended up doing marathons etc...it is probably a great outlet.
Thanks to your brother. We are very lucky to be protected and to have the freedoms that we have:)

Jen said...

I LOVE this post. You are incredible blessed with such an awesome relationship with your brother.

We use Skype with my parents since they moved. Sometimes, my 6 year old spends 20 minutes showing my mom the inside of this mouth!

Liz said...

Love your post. My brother was deployed to Iraq a few years ago. He's home now and he runs with me (well, when he can. His son was just born a while back so that makes it difficult). He started as soon as he got back from Iraq; he was having some difficulty adjusting to be back and he's very private. The only time he'd really talk about his experiences was when we'd run. Those first runs with my brother are some of the best memories I have.
Thanks to your brother and all service men and women. :)

Pam @ herbieontherun.com said...

Good grief, I'm an emotional wreck these days. This post made me cry. I don't know how you ladies do it... those of you that have brothers or husbands or dads or sons over there. Thank you and hugs to all of you!