I always think that it is such a wonderful thing whenever you meet two people who have been best friends since before they even knew the definition of friendship. They've dug in mud until it has taken up new residence under each ten fingernails. Rode their bikes together until the street lights turned on. Ate popsicles in a park. Sat together on the school bus. Got in trouble. Laughed. Cried. Then, laughed again.
What amazes me most about these types of friendships is their ability to adapt over the years. Many people come in and out of our lives, but what's so incredible are the ones that are there through it all. Through everything. A constant. For me, I am lucky enough to have more than one of those people. But, above all, just one person stands out the most. For me, that is my brother, a Mr. Cory Robert Livingston. Most of my childhood memories involve my kind-hearted, dimpled, childish brother. He's only about 20 months older than I, but I've looked up to him for most of my life. And, to be honest, I am sad to say that he probably doesn't know it. Which, is not because of his own oblivion, but rather for my lack of confessions of appreciation.
Trust me, we have had our typical sibling ups and downs. I pulled the "I'm going to tell Mom!" card numerous times, and actually told Mom too many times. We constantly made fun of one another. I remember referring to him as "Peter Brady" when the first few signs of puberty struck him, and his squeaky voice. He used to create lines in the backseat of the car or on the couch, dividing them into my side and his side. We used to assign one another hours of the TV; I got the odd hours of the day, he the even. But even through these little tiffs or quirks, we were still spending time together. A lot of time together. I mean, we even had Chemistry class together in high school. But I cherished all of the time together.
Fortunately, we still remain close. We share a love of music, outdoor concerts, and even shopping (though he might not want to admit it). My sister (who I adore just as much as Cor) and I have always been protective over the type of women that Cory fancied. It was important to us to not only approve of the girl taking away some of his time from us, but also to enjoy her. Throughout the years, we've spent some time asking too many questions to the girls vying for his big heart, and we've been open and honest (probably too much) about our true thoughts on her. And then, Nicole came along. And at first, when people asked me what I thought of her, I used to simply say, "Cory adores her, so obviously I have to like her." I didn't mean that in a bad way, I just meant that it was so apparent, so incredibly evident, that he was swooning. So if he was swooning, we had no choice but to go along for the ride, too. And that ride, well it has been great. She has been great. She's been great with the family, fitting in as if she's been there longer than just a year and a half. But more than anything, and in my eyes, most importantly, she has been perfect for him. Cory has changed since he met Nicole. And that used to be my biggest fear, that these girlfriends of his would change my dimpled, kind-hearted brother. But, it's not so much that Nicole has changed him, she's improved him. And he hasn't been this happy since the day he received his Power Wheels quad as a second birthday gift.
So today, I found my daily dose of bliss from a phone call I received from Cory and Nicole announcing that "She said yes!" My first response was, "This is so weird." To which I quickly changed to, "But I'm really happy for you guys!" Truth is, it is weird. It's weird because I still think of Cory as my brother who was afraid to put his face in the water in our pool. The one I used to play rollerblade hockey with in our driveway. The one I used to throw Skittles with at skiers below us on the lift. And yes, things have changed since then. But, all I kept thinking was, things have improved too. And as I lay in bed looking at a picture on my cellphone of the gorgeous ring, I could not stop thinking about the tone of his excited voice on the phone. It was that samePeter Brady-esque squealing brother that I've always known and loved.
Congratulations you two. I couldn't be happier for you both.
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