Oops! 26 years ago….
We were living in Glasgow and I was only 10 years old, it was winter time and my grandmother and one of my uncles were visiting us for the first time in…. ever…. Why? Because my Mum was having a baby!
I remember finding out, the summer before as usual we were spending it with my grandparents in Venezuela… I think it was around lunch time, because everybody was around, the phone rang and I did what all 10 year 9 year olds did at the time, ran to pick it up… my Mum was calling and when I picked up the phone she was already talking with my aunt (she beat me to the phone), she was telling her that they had just came out from the Dr's office and that she was pregnant. I don't know what my Mother's plan was but I started telling everybody right away. I was so excited!!!!! It was my dream come true, I wanted a little brother and yes... I wanted a brother. At the time you couldn't find out the sex of the baby but I was sure it had to be a boy. I loved my sister to death, but she was a tough cookie, even then, the first memory of my life is going to the hospital to meet her and I was only 2 ½ years old. We were together all the time but she was also very independent from me... bottom line? I wanted a little brother.
It's now March 3rd 1981, my Mum had left for the hospital and we were just waiting and waiting. We get the call and at 7:35ish or something like that, a baby boy had been borne! I had a brother! and just as I was jumping up and down of happiness my sister was running away from the phone screaming, I hate him, I hate him. She of course wanted a little baby girl.
He was named Nelson Luis Fernando Martinez Brizuela aka Junior. My Grandfather’s name was Nelson Luis, my father's was Nelson Luis, one of my cousins was Nelson and another one was Luis and my other little cousin's name was, wanna guess? yep Nelson Luis... so he didn't have much of an option pool with his name... we received a present before he was born from my grandparents addressed to Nelson Luis Fernando Martinez Brizuela aka Junior (and what my grandparents said is basically what happened). Funny thing? when the present arrived we didn't know the sex of the baby, so thankfully it was after all a boy.
I was the big sister, 10 years older than him and I loved to help my Mum. Even changing his diapers and yes Junior, I've seen you naked!
When he grew up, I shared with him the things that I liked, we watched the same movies and we went crazy for football (soccer). I taught him how to wear his pants, don’t get me wrong but he was very geeky at that time, not the Cool McCool that you know today… sorry Junior. He used to wear his pants up to his waist. I kept pulling them down to the hip because that’s how they were being used back then… until he finally got it. I organized his birthday parties, decorated his bedroom and I took care off him the time only time he was hospitalized, we had to rush him to the emergency room with high fever and was there for a week…. My mother was away in Portugal and there was no point in her coming back. My father lived south of Venezuela so I had to take charge. We were inseparable, that is until he became a teenager!
OH MY GOD…. Poor parents, having to go thru that with each of their kids… all my admiration and respect, it was Hell!!!!!!!!!! Or very close to it…
If I said, let's do white, he would go with black, we just became the most different people in the world… at that time, I had my ideas, very absurd about what I wanted him to be, how I wanted him to present himself, I didn’t know how wrong I was and it was the same for him, I was completely the opposite of what he wanted or needed me to be, he would walk around with his pants almost on the floor (yes, I know, I started it!!! ) tattoos (at that time I was like oh nooo…. ) piercings (ewwwww) and his hair would just be a different color every time I would see him… he was crazy about techno music, I hated it and well, on my side, I was always impeccable, dressed in suits, traveling, going to the beauty salon every week…. Believe me the two most opposite people in the world and we grew apart.
I moved from Venezuela to Spain and after a year I tried to have him move to Spain with me, I invited him over for a month or two, I thought it would be great for him to study there, since they had great schools for what he wanted. After a month I sooooo didn’t want to see him, it was very difficult to coexist together, I guess he was too young and things still had not changed. I remember one night we were watching the Championship League final, Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, I was rooting for one team and he of course was rooting for the other. We couldn't even share what we used to like, I was from Real Madrid and he was from Barcelona.... This was also the year were The Matrix came out and he would tell me… don’t you understand Caro, YOU are the Matrix! and of course if he liked the movie, I decided to hate it without watching it and thank God I didn’t know what to be the Matrix meant because it would have broken my heart.
I saw him a couple of times when I went back to Venezuela, if I got lucky he would stop by the house. But still no click, I mean, of course I loved him, he was my brother and you always love family. I continued my life, moved from Spain to Mexico and the the US and he eventually also ended up leaving. He went to Barcelona, Spain, he hated Madrid. I didn't see him or many years.
I finally got to see the Matrix, oh nooooo, I can’t believe he thought that of me. I loved the movie, I didn’t know it then, but as I mentioned in my previous entry, I was changing, I was becoming somebody different and even with time I got my own tattoo, I was more open to the world but still would not have gotten a piercing and definitely didn't like techno music...
In one of my trips to France I decided to go and visit him, I missed seeing him, it had been almost 4 years and I was scared because we had absolutely nothing in common, he even mentioned to me that he kinda felt the same, he told his now wife, that he wasn't sure how things would go with me...
I found an amazing men, the last time I had seen him he was still a teenager in some way… his face had change, more mature, more men I almost didn’t recognize him, it was shocking, I couldn’t believe that I almost didn’t recognize my own brother. We went to his house and as we walked in, the first thing he said was what I was thinking, he said, Did you ever think that you would walk in a house that I was supporting? I got goose bumps, this was another person and so was I, I remember him being surprised that I had the Outkast CD in my car, he was all like, you listen to Outkast? I love this record and just like that we were us again. We had such ideas in our heads of who we were that we didn’t know each other anymore and life gave us the opportunity to re-discover each other.
I love my brother so much, he is the most smart, caring, entertaining, loveable, interesting, cool, ingenious, peaceful men that I know and he is my brother!!!!!!!!!!! we share a lot in common and what we don't, we just respect.... thank God we are not teenagers anymore.
Happy Birthday Junior! I love you from here to the moon and back 1,000,000 times!
I remember finding out, the summer before as usual we were spending it with my grandparents in Venezuela… I think it was around lunch time, because everybody was around, the phone rang and I did what all 10 year 9 year olds did at the time, ran to pick it up… my Mum was calling and when I picked up the phone she was already talking with my aunt (she beat me to the phone), she was telling her that they had just came out from the Dr's office and that she was pregnant. I don't know what my Mother's plan was but I started telling everybody right away. I was so excited!!!!! It was my dream come true, I wanted a little brother and yes... I wanted a brother. At the time you couldn't find out the sex of the baby but I was sure it had to be a boy. I loved my sister to death, but she was a tough cookie, even then, the first memory of my life is going to the hospital to meet her and I was only 2 ½ years old. We were together all the time but she was also very independent from me... bottom line? I wanted a little brother.
It's now March 3rd 1981, my Mum had left for the hospital and we were just waiting and waiting. We get the call and at 7:35ish or something like that, a baby boy had been borne! I had a brother! and just as I was jumping up and down of happiness my sister was running away from the phone screaming, I hate him, I hate him. She of course wanted a little baby girl.
He was named Nelson Luis Fernando Martinez Brizuela aka Junior. My Grandfather’s name was Nelson Luis, my father's was Nelson Luis, one of my cousins was Nelson and another one was Luis and my other little cousin's name was, wanna guess? yep Nelson Luis... so he didn't have much of an option pool with his name... we received a present before he was born from my grandparents addressed to Nelson Luis Fernando Martinez Brizuela aka Junior (and what my grandparents said is basically what happened). Funny thing? when the present arrived we didn't know the sex of the baby, so thankfully it was after all a boy.
I was the big sister, 10 years older than him and I loved to help my Mum. Even changing his diapers and yes Junior, I've seen you naked!
When he grew up, I shared with him the things that I liked, we watched the same movies and we went crazy for football (soccer). I taught him how to wear his pants, don’t get me wrong but he was very geeky at that time, not the Cool McCool that you know today… sorry Junior. He used to wear his pants up to his waist. I kept pulling them down to the hip because that’s how they were being used back then… until he finally got it. I organized his birthday parties, decorated his bedroom and I took care off him the time only time he was hospitalized, we had to rush him to the emergency room with high fever and was there for a week…. My mother was away in Portugal and there was no point in her coming back. My father lived south of Venezuela so I had to take charge. We were inseparable, that is until he became a teenager!
OH MY GOD…. Poor parents, having to go thru that with each of their kids… all my admiration and respect, it was Hell!!!!!!!!!! Or very close to it…
If I said, let's do white, he would go with black, we just became the most different people in the world… at that time, I had my ideas, very absurd about what I wanted him to be, how I wanted him to present himself, I didn’t know how wrong I was and it was the same for him, I was completely the opposite of what he wanted or needed me to be, he would walk around with his pants almost on the floor (yes, I know, I started it!!! ) tattoos (at that time I was like oh nooo…. ) piercings (ewwwww) and his hair would just be a different color every time I would see him… he was crazy about techno music, I hated it and well, on my side, I was always impeccable, dressed in suits, traveling, going to the beauty salon every week…. Believe me the two most opposite people in the world and we grew apart.
I moved from Venezuela to Spain and after a year I tried to have him move to Spain with me, I invited him over for a month or two, I thought it would be great for him to study there, since they had great schools for what he wanted. After a month I sooooo didn’t want to see him, it was very difficult to coexist together, I guess he was too young and things still had not changed. I remember one night we were watching the Championship League final, Manchester United vs. Bayern Munich, I was rooting for one team and he of course was rooting for the other. We couldn't even share what we used to like, I was from Real Madrid and he was from Barcelona.... This was also the year were The Matrix came out and he would tell me… don’t you understand Caro, YOU are the Matrix! and of course if he liked the movie, I decided to hate it without watching it and thank God I didn’t know what to be the Matrix meant because it would have broken my heart.
I saw him a couple of times when I went back to Venezuela, if I got lucky he would stop by the house. But still no click, I mean, of course I loved him, he was my brother and you always love family. I continued my life, moved from Spain to Mexico and the the US and he eventually also ended up leaving. He went to Barcelona, Spain, he hated Madrid. I didn't see him or many years.
I finally got to see the Matrix, oh nooooo, I can’t believe he thought that of me. I loved the movie, I didn’t know it then, but as I mentioned in my previous entry, I was changing, I was becoming somebody different and even with time I got my own tattoo, I was more open to the world but still would not have gotten a piercing and definitely didn't like techno music...
In one of my trips to France I decided to go and visit him, I missed seeing him, it had been almost 4 years and I was scared because we had absolutely nothing in common, he even mentioned to me that he kinda felt the same, he told his now wife, that he wasn't sure how things would go with me...
I found an amazing men, the last time I had seen him he was still a teenager in some way… his face had change, more mature, more men I almost didn’t recognize him, it was shocking, I couldn’t believe that I almost didn’t recognize my own brother. We went to his house and as we walked in, the first thing he said was what I was thinking, he said, Did you ever think that you would walk in a house that I was supporting? I got goose bumps, this was another person and so was I, I remember him being surprised that I had the Outkast CD in my car, he was all like, you listen to Outkast? I love this record and just like that we were us again. We had such ideas in our heads of who we were that we didn’t know each other anymore and life gave us the opportunity to re-discover each other.
I love my brother so much, he is the most smart, caring, entertaining, loveable, interesting, cool, ingenious, peaceful men that I know and he is my brother!!!!!!!!!!! we share a lot in common and what we don't, we just respect.... thank God we are not teenagers anymore.
Happy Birthday Junior! I love you from here to the moon and back 1,000,000 times!
Comments
wow, what a way to say happy birthday. My family barely remember my birthday. Why aren't you my sister?
Cmdr Vimes
way to go caro !! take care of your little bro and take care of yourself :)
(((((((((Hugs))))))))
Think I might show this post to Hannah since you set such a great example of being a big sister ;)