A HUGE congratulations to my baby (okay, 17-year-old) brother Eric today!
He just graduated from high school yesterday! That is a BIG DEAL.
He's a GRAD!
Go Eric! (or E-Rock, as I like to call him 
).
I know people say all the time “where has the time gone?” but seriously, WHERE has the TIME gone?!
Just New
It seems like just yesterday I was holding baby Eric in my arms and singing him to sleep. Aww, cheesefest.
It also seems like just yesterday he was dumping an entire bottle of my mom’s perfume on the cat and throwing our TV remote into the fish tank…
Cheeky Little Cat
(You’ll notice he is missing his two front teeth… I accidentally knocked them out… but that is a story for another time.)
And it seems like just yesterday we were on a four-hour car ride on our way to camping and I had to listen to his Little Yellow Bus tape over and over again.
Camping
(my shirt is super cool, I’m aware. And check out that speedo!)
And I also had to listen to his cheesy personalized tape with his name for a millions hours, and the part with his name was in an entirely different voice. “We’re gonna sing about… ERIC. We’re gonna sing about… ERIC. ‘Cause he’s a special… BOY“
I still know all of the songs by heart. And so does my Bestie Lisa, because she was usually with us (I remember our fave song Lis, “He’s the newwww Otto, the Rock ‘N Roll Hippo, he’s absolutely fab-u-lous, THAT’S RIGHT! He put the hip in hippopotamus! “)
Anyway, he was a little spaz (and that is an understatement), but he has grown up into a smart and respectable young lad with a good head on his shoulders. I cannot believe he will soon be moving on to college, and moving out, and taking on the world!
Photo creds: one of his friends’ Facebook pages. Sorry, I’m a stalker.
I was 10 when Eric was born, and I always joke about how my parents conveniently waited until they had a built-in babysitter before they had another baby.
Just a Bebe
But in truth, I am thankful for our age difference. It is too big for us to fight, and sometimes I really do feel like I am a second mom to him. I remember nearly every minute of the day he was born 
Eric, Nana and I
When my parents were going through a hard time (and ultimately split up), I feel like Eric and I could talk about the things together that neither of us could talk to our parents about, and it made us grow closer (like how crazy they were acting, and sorry Mom and Dad, I’m sure you’ll read this, but ya’ll were craycray ).
I will always be a protective big sister, and I hope that he will always be able to look up to me. He did not have the easiest childhood, and despite all of his hardships, he has learned the right lessons, and made the right decisions, and I feel like he is on the correct path.
Eric and Nana
Unfortunately, my mom and Eric live in BC, so I was unable to share his special day with him. But he is coming to Ontario in just over a week and he will be staying with us, so that makes me excited!
Congrats Eric! I’m so proud of you!
Hooray for Eric!
Hooray also for three-day weekends! Hope you all have a great night!
