Siblings...Forever My Family

I was blessed to be born into a family as amazing as ours.  To be fortunate enough to have three best friends from the start of life is truly one of the greatest gifts from God, and I thank God daily for each of my siblings.  I love how I can count on each of them for different reasons, and how I know that they will be there for me no matter what, just as I will for each of them.

To My Siblings:

Adrienne, you are the natural born leader.  We turn to you for nearly everything, and you never let us down.  You are strong, wise, intelligent, hilarious, and dependable.  I see the way you manage your family and life and it is an inspiration.  When I think my life is crazy and there is not enough time in a day, I just look at you and realize that there is always a way to fit everything in.  I know you work hard to keep going, and I admire your drive.  I don't know how you do it all, but I respect you for doing it so well.  Thank you for laughing with me and being a cut up.  I like to think we both got a little of Nana's banter skills.  Thank you for all that you do, and all that you are.  You are a blessing in my life, and I thank God for you.

Erin, you are a constant reminder of God's work.  You have proven to me time and time again that God continues to work in our lives.  Life has dealt you some tough cards from time to time, and you continue to be your happy self.  It takes a lot to keep you down.  You are one of the most resilient people I know.  I love that about you.  I can always count on you to be there for me when I need to talk.  Your words helped me through the most difficult times in my life, and your strength has been a constant inspiration.  I love to see your spirit translate into Ashlyn's personality.  I see so much of you in her, and it is truly amazing.  Thank you for always having wise and kind words for me, and for always listening.  You are a blessing in my life, and I thank God for you.

Justin, you have always been an amazing big brother to me.  I have been blessed to have such an amazing role model to look up to.  Your creativity and ingenuity has always amazed me.  Your natural ability with all things technical has always been one of your traits which I most admire.  I have been blessed to have a best friend that I can always count on.  There have been numerous times you have come through for me, and the support you gave me during the most difficult times in my life was beyond amazing.  You gave me a roof to live under, and a shoulder to cry on.  I love to see the happiness you experience with Lynnette.  I have always thought that you deserve nothing but the best, and it is great to see that you have found happiness.  You are a blessing in my life, and I thank God for you.

I know we all have had, and will continue to have, struggles in our lives from time to time.  I also know that each one of us can always count on the others to pick us up when we are down.  I just wanted you all to know how much you mean to me...

I love you all, and look forward to sharing the rest of our lives as a family.

Shine On, You Crazy Diamond...

What follows is a story of loss; a story of a precious metal, and

precious stone, lost.  What follows is not a story of love lost.  What

follows is a story of an opportunity for love to grow, in spite of an

unfortunate and frustrating circumstance.

On the third of June, two-thousand eleven, I proposed to the lovely

Jennifer Ann.  It was one of the best days of my life, and certainly

the best birthday I have ever had.  On that day, I gave her a ring.

The ring symbolized a seal over her heart; I made a promise to love

her with a jealousy unyielding as the grave.

Song of Solomon 8:6

6 Place me like a seal over your heart,

  like a seal on your arm;

for love is as strong as death,

  its jealousy unyielding as the grave.

It burns like blazing fire,

  like a mighty flame.

The ring and its radiance symbolized all that we are, and all of the

love that we share.  It symbolized my promise to be hers and hers

alone.  It symbolized the seal over my heart.  I will love no one the

way I love her, for all of my remaining days.

Jennifer's job is demanding.  It is difficult, physical work.  I am a

desk jockey.  At most, I need to be concerned about carpal tunnel, and

maintaining an ergonomically correct position so as to keep from

getting poor posture.  Jennifer has to avoid numerous dangers as well as

wrangle/handle/control livestock on a daily basis.  She must be

concerned about 1,300 pounds of equine mass running her over, jumping

on her, kicking her, or giving her a black eye...I admire her work

ethic, and her ability to remain calm around large animals.  I know

for certain that I am the wuss in this relationship...

Anyway, Jennifer's job is demanding.  She must often put on rubber

gloves, and frequently must wash her hands to rid them of all the fun

stuff she encounters. As such, her ring must often be removed

throughout the day.  Sure, she could wear the ring on a necklace while

at work - but what fun is that?  It needs to be on display, for the

whole world to see!

For the first six months of our engagement, Jennifer wore her ring to

work every day.  Aside from a couple of scares when she forgot that

she had put the ring in her pocket, it seemed that it would be okay to

wear at work without the risk of losing it.  For the first six

months...

Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 4:22 PM I received a text from

Jennifer.  It was not good news...The conversation played out as

follows:

As you can see, she took it pretty hard.  How was I to react?  Yeah,

the ring was expensive.  Yes, it would be a hassle to replace.  There

were so many things I could have gotten frustrated about.  I will

admit that at first I was a little frustrated by the news, but I took

a minute to think about it from her perspective.  I imagined that her

mind was going a mile a minute.  I knew she was upset, so what good

would it have done to come down on her and make her feel worse?

Nothing in this world is worth more to me than her trust in me, and I

was not about to berate her and make her feel as if she could not come

to me with problems and trust me to react with compassion.  I did my

best to comfort her, but she remained fairly distraught.

Thank God for insurance!  Not to out shine Aaron Rodgers and his

discount double check commercial, but let me tell you...State Farm was

absolutely amazing!  Big shout out to Susie Ricke and her staff for

helping us out and giving us such great service!  State Farm certainly

has us for life...

Within a matter of days, we were able to replace the symbol.  The

wonderful people at Shane Co. were kind enough to bring in diamonds from

their other locations for us to examine.  Granted we had no idea what

we were looking at through that jeweler's loop, but they made us feel

pretty good about everything.  Sure, the commercials are annoying, but

I really do feel like we have a friend in the diamond business...

I meant every word of what I said.  The ring was nothing compared to

what it symbolized; sure, the ring was lost, but our love was not.  My

heart is still sealed off from others, and I will still love no one

the way I love her.  No one will ever know me the way she knows me,

and I do not need a ring on her finger to know that.  She will always

be captivating.  I will always be drawn to her, and love her with a

jealous fervor.

Song of Solomon 4:9-11

9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;

  you have stolen my heart

with one glance of your eyes,

  with one jewel of your necklace.

10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!

  How much more pleasing is your love than wine,

and the fragrance of your perfume

  more than any spice!

11 Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;

  milk and honey are under your tongue.

Jennifer: No matter what happens to the material items in our lives,

nothing in this world means more to me than you, your love, and your

trust in me.  I will never do anything to compromise our love.  I want

you to know that you have stolen my heart; I want you to know that my

heart is sealed off from all others.  Our love will shine on, like

that crazy diamond.

For Always...Bryan