Ode to a good brother.....

A few months ago my sister Kim whose blog is linked on this page wrote about our less famous brother Tom. I promised near his birthday that I would give you some info about Tom and well I realized that I never posted my blog about Tom. Things got so hectic that I let the moment pass. So here we go this blog is devoted to my long haired, grumpy, always there when I need him brother Tom.(not Thomas, Tommy, TJ he is just Tom). Oh and before I forget mom it is K-R-I-S-T-E-N-A she is your only daughter in law (that we know of) if you can not remember how to spell it just call her Mrs. Huffeldink : ).

So where to begin perhaps I should begin with an apology to Tom. It seems though I find it highly unlikely that when we were kids I never let the poor child speak. My family contends that when questions were asked of Tom I would never let him answer(those of you who know me must find this very hard to believe). I believe that this may be the reason to this day that often times when he is asked a question there is an uncomfortable silence as he waits for me to answer. I picture him sitting at a drive thru and clerks asking if he would like fries with his order and him just sitting there waiting to here my voice call out "no, he does not want fries with that I however I will take his fries." So Tom I am giving you permission to answer the phone, talk to the pizza guy and sorry for never letting the world hear all of those thoughts you wanted to share. Never mistake his silence for not having something to say. As I have learned so much later in life there is a lot of wisdom behind that pony tail and I wish I had let him share it with me sooner.

Some time ago I was a senior in highschool(to some of you it will seem like yesterday according to my wife I rode a dinosaur to school and did my homework on a stone tablet) but on to the tale. Towards the end of the year I found myself in a very public and very embarrassing situation. I was out of school for the better part of two weeks and my situation was quite the point of discussion. But no one was allowed to say anything bad about me. You see my brother would not let that happen. As the story was told to me a young man decided one day to use my situation to improve his social status (it seems he thought by trashing me people would overlook his obvious body odor) however it seems that Tom got wind of some of the things that he was whispering in the hall and shared with him how his health might be impacted by him opening his mouth to speak about me again. You see while some people would make fun of Tom when we were kids because he was quiet and not nearly as social as I was there was one thing that they would not do and that was cross him. You see while I would talk my way out of the situation Tom found that knocking you into another world worked so much more effectively. Now I don't condone violence and I don't like to talk about that summer very often but when I needed him most there he was. I never been a great big brother to Tom we ran at opposite ends of the social spectrum but at the end of the day he was there for me when I was at my lowest. One of biggest regrets in my life is that I did not step up and defend him a little more often, so Tom if I did not say it then thanks for protecting me when I could not do it for myself.

Ever wonder how kids decide who they like and who they don't like? I have. All of the young kids in my family have at one point or another not really cared for my mom. It has nothing to do with her. My theory is that the kids wonder why she is always wearing that brown football helmet(just kidding mom). But the one thing that can be said for certain is that all of the kids in the family love Tom. They often perfer him to their parents.... sometimes. They think he is the best thing since sliced bread and individually wrapped twinkies. When he comes in the room there is the moment where they all wonder who he is but they can always get him to smile which is somewhat of a miracle at times and before you know it he is down on the floor playing with them and then they are following him everywhere. I personally think the reason they prefer him is that he bribes them by making them fantastic gifts. So far he has made my kids three awesome pieces. A highchair and crib for Kaitlyn and a wagon for Tyler. Tyler loves to ride in the wagon and on occasion tries to sleep in the crib. Kaitlyn moved the highchair into our kitchen for a while and fed her dolls at the table. We had to move it out when Tyler kept trying to sit in it. He acts like it is such a chore to make them but underneath all that complaining there is an Uncle who would give his life for those kids. Tyler and I are making a trip to Ohio in a couple of weeks and Tyler can not wait to play cars with Uncle Tom. I think Tyler is hoping Tom will whittle him a car out of a toothpick which if it can be done Tom can do it.

I could go on and on about Tom. Tom is someone that I can always count on. When Kristena and Kaitlyn moved into my apartment at Easton I knew I could ask Tom to help. He drove all the way down to Columbus on a Saturday and carried all of that furniture down a flight of stairs and then unloaded it in a blizzard. When our computer hard drive crashed Tom sat on the phone for 4 hours and helped me install the new drive, reinstall all of the new software and made sure that when I turned it on it did not blow up on me. If it is one thing that I know for sure in my life it is that no matter where I am or what kind of situation I am in I can always pick up that phone and call Tom and hear him say "What do you want?". Love ya Tom!