Happy birthday big brother!

As you can see, I wasn't kidding when I said May was a month of celebrations! 

Marrakech Oct 2012

Patrick, aka Pap, Pappy, #1 and big bro, is the sibling I've shared most with throughout my life. We're the two that remember all the family moves and houses (and oh so many-- KS 1&2, NJ 1&2, NE 1&2, SD, São Jose, Sitio, Quinta...), the two that went to all the same schools (and oh so many-- Oakgrove, MCS, that one in São Jose, Kolbe, St. Peter's, Pius and ND, not to mention those homeschooled years!), throughout highschool and college we shared many friends, a car that no one else could figure out how to drive, and many fun sibling lunches in South Dining Hall. He lived in Chicago for many years and I loved visiting him there on my way between Casablanca and South Dakota and I'm excited that he's in Chi for a few months again now and in July we'll be able to relive that! On the flip side he's the only one of my friends and family who's visited Morocco thus far, and it was so fun to host him and show him this country that has been my home. 

The Marsolek-Braga-Henebry friendship tradition!

We may have shared a lot, but we are certainly very different people. Left-brain versus right-brain is a pretty accurate description of our different ways of viewing the world, complementary but dissimilar. When we were little I kind of drove him crazy a lot with my wild-child behavior, he was always the more cautious, the more methodical, the calm one. He was a good influence, let's say. It's funny because I married a man who is also an engineer (though quality management and computer engineering are about as different as you can get) and he shares more than a few of the personality traits with my big bro. I guess that's pretty telling.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday today Pap, and that year 27 is filled with many new and positive experiences and adventures for you, and I hope we get to see each other more than habitual once!! Love you!