Of Mice and Men

I was browsing the photos on my computer and came across some choice pics of my brother. I was also thinking about New Year's resolutions and thought about how a year ago, Maki was living with us here in Denver. I also remembered something that occurred to me shortly after Jake and I got married: Maki and Jake have a lot in common. (Just so you know, Maki is a 35-year-old man with Down Syndrome and Jake is my attorney-husband.)

Neither of them can ever find anything. If you send Maki into a room that only has one item, he will not be able to find that item. Jake is pretty much the same. When we were first married and living in different states, he would often call me asking where various items were, such as spaghetti sauce, chicken, and forks, to name a few. Mind you, it was a one-bedroom apartment that I only lived in every other weekend. I recall actually walking Jake through the apartment over the phone to find these items.

Here's another one. They both love music and they both love to sing. One of them is completely tone deaf and the other is only slightly better. I won't tell you which is which. Here's Jake rockin' out in Tokyo.
Here is Maki rockin' out on stage. He is also an incredible dancer. Backstreet Boys have nothing on my brother.

They both make me laugh. Good thing I have a sense of humor. Since my birthday last month, I keep thinking of a date Jake and I went on when we were in law school. Here's how the conversation went:

Jake: You're the oldest girl that I've ever gone out with.

Me: Uh....I'm younger than you are.

Jake: Yeah, but you're still kind of old for me.

After 4 1/2 years of marriage, the comedy has not died.

My brother is just as graceful. When I was in college and sporting half blonde-half brunette hair, he called me a skunk. When I was single, his favorite thing to do was ask about former boyfriends in front of my new boyfriend. Also, you should ask Jake about the first time he stayed at my parents' house before we were married. It involves a shower and an event that I will always deny happened.

I came across this picture and nearly fell over laughing. This is Maki with chocolate fondue all over his face and a Curious George bandaid on his hand. My sister had given me a fondue set for my birthday and we were trying it out. Maki got a little bit overzealous, and in his attempt to stab a strawberry onto the metal skewer, he stabbed right through the strawberry and skewered his palm. After we cleaned him up and bandaged his hand, this is what he had to say:

"I'm Jesus. See, my hand!"

Thanks, guys, for making me laugh!