Christopher Michael Kern
To my Big Brother,
Thank you for not telling mom about the broken couch after we wrestled, or the real reason why I needed 4 stitches above my upper eye. Thank you for always playing in the snow with me and driving me to school every day when I was a freshman in high school (even though we had to walk 4 blocks to get to school every day because you didn’t want to pay for a parking pass). Thank you for convincing mom and dad to get us a dog. You were so good with Sugar. I would have never told you this, but I was so jealous. She just took to you and from that day forward you guys were inseparable. God, you loved animals. From Sammy the hamster to Sugar and Bailey. You always had a way to connect with animals. Thank you for always playing video games with me even though you always won. Thank you for always going swimming with me even though you always threw me in. Thank you for showing me how to be tough, even though it took getting beat up on a daily basis. Thank you for helping me form my own taste in music because god knows yours was awful. Thank you for passing on your love of flaming hot Cheetos and cookies, and frozen pizzas.
There was a time when we were kids when Chris announced he had a terrible stomachache after eating a whole bag of flaming hot Cheetos. So what did Chris do? What did my big bro do? He went upstairs and brought down a handful of cookies and milk. What was his rationale? He planned on washing down the bag of Cheetos with cookies and milk as if it was some unknown remedy. But that was Chris. Genuine. Kind. Soft-spoken. Artistic. Real. We didn’t express our love through words or hugs like regular families. No. Rather we expressed our love through insults, and punches and body slams and Chris if you were here right now, god, I’d punch you so hard. But as I reflect on the memories we’ve shared I want to thank you for being my big brother. We didn’t always get along, but we were brothers. We didn’t always have the same interests, but we were brothers. You left us too soon, but we will always be brothers. I love you. Till we meet again…