Heyyyyy Brotherrrrr

You can remember so vividly that tree you used to climb. You knew exactly what first branch to grab and how to begin your ascent. You can close your eyes and remember step-by-step where to put your next food and hand.

You can even remember how the bark of the tree felt in your grip. For some reason you can still put yourself on that climb, and have the confidence that you would remember what branches would be where, what ducks, twists and reaches you'd need to make to go higher. 

You knew how far up the tree you were just by looking at the branches you were grasping. There was no need to look down or into the distance to see how high you had climbed, you knew that this was a journey to the top. You remember how the branches became smaller and thinner, yet you had 100% certainty that they would hold you, just as they always did before. You didn't question yourself or the tree because you had done this so many times. 

Finally, you reached the height of your ascent, and you and the tree became one; a balance between your own weight and the strength of the far reaches of the tree. You remember feeling that equilibrium, knowing that you couldn't go higher.

Only then do you look around to see the view, only then do you look down to see your journey and how far you've come.


I was 8 years old the first time I was proud of my brother.

I remember looking up, a block away into my tree and seeing a little red figure. It was my brother, at the highest part of the tree in his red coat. I ran towards the tree...I knew he was as high as you could go because of the branches. 

There I was looking up at my 4 year old brother on a windy, winter day, clinging to the top of the tree like a koala bear. But I don't know how he got there, did he use the same branches? 

In his memory he may have taken different steps; put his feet in different nooks, grabbed limbs I never noticed. He saw that tree differently. He saw his path differently. But he got to the top on his own. 

His was a different journey, and I am still proud.