13 going on 30

Today is my youngest brother Peter's 13th birthday. Peter is a very unique fellow. He has never met a stranger and has wanted to be a commercial real estate agent ("fewer transactions...bigger returns") since the age of eight. While I was visiting home several months ago I found these photos on the family computer saved as "ebay". I'm not sure if Peter was auctioning his skills or his singlet off but I thought you might enjoy:


After Peter retired his wrestling career he decided to give football a try. In order to play football Peter (obviously) needed some special gear. He asked my mom to drive him to the sporting goods store to pick up the necessary items. She was on her cell phone when they arrived at the store and so Peter went inside and got down to business on his own. When my mom made it into the store she found Peter in a serious discussion with a young female sales clerk. Peter and the clerk were staring at the wall of jockstraps and protective cups that certain rough sports require. As my mom walked up she overheard Peter asking the kind lady "now...would you say I would wear a medium or a large.....?" Cue one of the prouder moments in my mom's repertoire of memories with Peter.


Another Peter fave happened down in Ecuador when Peter, my grandma and my sister Sarah were visiting some family. (I know I look like I perhaps come from Ecuadorian descent but the relatives were there on a mission trip...to clear up any confusion) The village children quickly took to calling Peter his spanish name of "Pedro". Peter and my grandma were sharing a room with two twin beds when my grandma noticed late one night that Peter appeared to be asleep as he was completely still but his eyes were wide open. She said his name several times, "Peter?...Peter?...Are you awake?". Peter did not answer and so my grandma got up and physically shook him a bit to see if he would respond. After she shook him he very seriously came to and said "Oh...I'm sorry grandma..were you talking to me? I was practicing my Spanish in my head and can only understand Spanish".

Pedro:


Happy Birthday Pedro! It has been a pleasure knowing your fascinating self these past 13 years. We all look forward to many, many more.