Proud

I am proud of my brother-in-law. Simple and to the point right. He's 21 and I feel like I helped in the process of raising him. Now, I in no way take credit for it. My wife, his sister, practically raised him from the time she was 6 up until he turned 18. So basically all 18 years of his life. I'm, not going to explain how it worked out that way, but, she was practically his mom for all intents and purposes. When she was old enough to work she paid for almost everything he had.

When she and I moved in together he ended up living with us, strange I know for such a new relationship. It was then that I matured just a little bit more. We both made sure to either take him to school or make sure he was out the door on time. Then when getting home he had chores to do. Then when either my wife or I came home from work we started dinner. So he lived with us his junior and senior year of high school not the easiest in a teenagers life and not the easiest for two women in their very early 20's.

The point I want to make is he made me proud today. Both he and his younger sister see me as their sister at this point so when they have accomplishments they either come to me or my wife and they know we will tell each other. Well he's a teacher's aide at a high school and tell us what he does in his classes. He explained that recently the lessons had taken on more of a discussion perspective instead of lectures. Now just to clarify he is not working with general population high school students but rather the elite of the school, students who are actually interested in college.

He brought up the topic of religion, one I will not really explore today but will sometime in the future. Now we all know this a touchy subject one rarely explored amongst the younger population. Now I will not go into the argument but he explained how in order to have a belief we need to understand what we are believing in. He said that he was willing to listen to anyone's argument if it contradicted his because he wanted to learn and understand. He wanted to see it from another person's perspective and if they can disprove the commonly accepted theory then he could then see their point.

Over the last few years I have met some truly close-minded individuals, varying in ages. Our younger population, usually 21 and under, tend to be very egocentric. Now I do not mean to offend anyone but the truth is that that age group tends to see things only their way and are not open to other peoples' opinions generally not taking advice from the older and wiser, not to say that all of our youth is this way. I can accept that I might have shown signs of this theory and I accept that I was wrong then.

It was an honor to see him open himself to the possibility that what he holds as true may be wrong. It was great to hear him speak of the lack of evolution amongst the community because of a lack of understanding. To hear him speak on the defensive of people against homosexuality was heart warming. I am proud of him because he is truly a great young man that will lead his generation to greatness someday. He is what our youth needs, strong-minded individuals willing to learn, wanting to progress and looking to succeed. An individual that doesn't want to follow a crowd, right or wrong but and individual that uses art to vocalize his opinion.

I am proud to call him my brother because he stands up for what he believes to be true.