Love-The Older Brother Kind

*ahem* My older brother is a gem. 

A bit ago he wrote a poem for the poetry contest at his school.

 He won.

 Of course. 

We were all immensely proud of him.

Not only did he win the contest, but the poem he won it with was amazing. 

Touching. 

Funny.

Sweet. 

Older-brotherish. 

Wonderful. 

He is a winner. 

That said, since it is Valentines Day, I am going to share his poem. 

To me, it is full of love. 

I will treasure it always.

~~~~To The Boyfriend that it may Concern~~~~

by Andrew Jones

"If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver,

            …If she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar."

You will come along one day,

Wanting to marry one of my sisters,

And you will say how quaint,

How really properly Christian and old fashioned,

Those days of her childhood were.

You will fall for her because of her gentle skin,

But you will also admire the pictures,

Where she was using a crowbar and her bare hands,

To dig nails out of a two-by-four.

You will be mesmerized by her sun-ripened hair,

Long, bouncy, and perfectly feminine,

But you will respect her because she can dig fence posts,

While the only thing you can dig is into more trouble.

You say you understand,

But you don't.

You only admire.

You only admire that she is braver, stronger, neater, nicer, faster,

And generally better than you are,

But you don't acknowledge it.

When you were playing with your ant farm,

She was working a farm,

Getting her hands dirty in mud and manure.

While you felt like you were on top of the world at your internship,

She was hauling feed and corn and bales of hay that weigh more than you,

And lifting them onto shelves taller than you without anybodies help.

When you were bragging about the quality of your mother's cooking,

She was cooking for my mother who was sick in bed,

And needing someone to brave the heats of the afternoon kitchen,

And cook a gourmet meal for my hard-working well-deserving father.

While you were reading your practical theology books,

She was letting a girl who was all alone cry on her shoulder.

While you were young,

She was old.

When you sweep her off her feet,

(Because you will),

You'll do it 'cause you want to "court" her,

Not "date" her,

Cause my parents would go to prison for murdur if you their daughter dated anything,

Much less you.

But trust me,

None of you know the difference between the two words.

But my sister will fall for you because she thinks that "court",

Is the proper code word for a man who is interested,

But not too interested.

But let me tell you something:

You're going to be interested,

And you're going to be a gentleman,

And you're going to try your hardest to figure out just what it means to love another being,

(Much less my sister),

And you're going to work so hard at being the best,

Man,

Brother,

Leader,

Lover,

And BFF,

Because if you don't,

I will personally test the limits of your health insurance, 

With all the brotherly love I got.

Look, I'm sure you're okay (to an extent),

But don't get it in your head that you understand her,

Until you ask what it feels like to constantly have grime under your fingernails,

Or the true meaning of the word "project,"

Or what it was like to pick up enough walnuts out of the back yard,

So that you and the family can have enough money to go skiing in Michigan.

Don't think by any means that you know her,

Until you understand who she is,

Until you know her story.

And don't come running to me when she won't tell the whole thing!

Because as much insight as I may have,

As much as I could paint you a picture of my sister that would come,

Pretty close to the one she would paint,

It's up to you, my man, to find out what they mean,

When they say, in true love,

That a lifetime is not enough.

I wish you well,

But not too well,

Because I will miss her. 

Here is the post from last year's Valentines Day as well.

I hope you are having a wonderful day! 

Don't forget about the One Who Is Love on this day or any other. 

Very proud to be my older brother's little sister,

~Mackenzie 

p.s you can find Andrew's highly intellectual blog here.