superior brother, Dan (right). Photo courtesy of
Dan Orzechowski
Two and a half years after I was born, my life as an only child was over.
I once lived like a king. It was me who was the center of attention. I didn’t have to share a room or wait in line for the bathroom at my own house.
My younger brother, Matt, with his big cheeks and pudgy arms, was the one who put an end to all that.
This kid was born knowing how to piss me off. When Matt was younger, he wore around this Hulk costume everywhere. The costume, which I’m almost certain was bought for Halloween, was worn for months straight. It didn’t matter if my mom was taking the two of us grocery shopping or if we were on our way to school, the Hulk was present. As you can imagine, I got very embarrassed pretty fast.
In the end though, I don’t know where I’d be without Matt.
As kids, Matt and I were always moving. Our parents divorced when we were young, and by the time we reached high school, we had moved too many times to count. This made making friends difficult for us and, because of that, we often turned to each other for entertainment. We did everything together.
Time passed and we eventually saw each other less. Matt decided to attend a trade school while living at our mom’s house. I stayed with our dad. Transitioning from seeing him everyday to maybe seeing him on the weekends was tough.
I’ll always be proud of what Matt accomplished during those years, though. In a matter of months, he had learned about carpentry and agriculture, while also learning how to weld — things that I’ll most likely never know anything about.
Oh, and he’s also a volunteer firefighter. I don’t know about you, but I flinch just opening a warm oven.
Matt is a dork, a friend and a brat. But above all, like the Hulk, he’s a hero.
He may be younger than me, but Matt is someone to look up to.