The People you knew when you were young.

There is this song, I know it as The Sunscreen Song by Baz Lurhman others might recognize it as a graduation song. It's a song of advice and in it he says "The older you get the more you need the people you knew when you were young." I don't know if that is true or not. I venture to guess it probably is.

There is absolutely something about spending time with family or those you've grown up with that is different and special. I'm not sure what it is. If it's due to genetic bond or if it's caused by knowing someone so long that they know you better than everyone else. It is through this strange link it seems that magic can happen.

Today I spoke with my older brother on the phone and we were discussing music, something we often do. I was trying to think of a band that I knew he liked to compare them to a song I'd recently discovered that I knew he'd like. I described them as the robe wearing, love, bubbles and tree singing band or some fluffy silly thing. He knew exactly who I meant and said their name. (I wont say it because you might like them and be offended by my mental word associations.) Often with him much less of a description is needed and he is on the same page. I can name a time or a feeling and he knows what I'm referring to.

After my conversation I made the 55 mile trek to Anchorage to bring a friend some medication and have lunch with him in between his flights. Afterwords I went to hang out with my two younger brothers. Being with them is like getting in a time machine and traveling back to when I was 8 and there was no such thing as economic recession or health care reform or debt and gas/electric/mortgage bills. A time when the world was fun and you could get a stomach ache from laughing to hard cause everything was funny.

That is how it is with them. We got McDonalds and were eating when I realized I wanted my sweet and sour sauce but at the time having too little sleep my brain couldn't form the connections to think up the words so I said. "Where is..." (that is literally all I said.) and scrunched my fingers together. My brother bent over pulled out my sauce and handed it to me. You might say yeah no big if you had the nuggets its an obvious thing to ask for. I didn't even order nuggets I planned to steal some of his and hadn't gotten around to it yet.

We have our inside jokes as everyone does but we have so many and they are so silly. Anytime anyone says "I'm gonna kick you in the face." They hold up their hand and we all fall into hysterics. (I won't embarrass myself by explaining why. just know it's truly hilarious... to us.)

So in my long and convoluted way of saying it, what I am saying is that family is important. Maybe for you it isn't because they let you be a kid again or they know exactly what you mean to say even when all you say is. "You know that time when you did that thing." But they know things about you no one else ever will and they'll typically be there for you also when no one else will. So enjoy them while they are here. Hug them every chance you get. And if at all possible tell them you love them every time you say goodbye because you never know if those might be the last words you ever get to say to them.