Ode to My BLB♥

My last post was pretty sad, so on a lighter note...I just realized earlier how much I love my little brother! And no, there was no big event or action that made me see this... I just woke up with him on my mind. 
He's my only sibling. Same Mommy, different dads. My Big Li'l Brother (as I affectionately call him) will be the big 15 next month, and he's grown from an adorable little boy to a handsome young teenager and...well...I'm proud of him. {if he were here, this would be the part where he told me to stop being so mushy lol}. My brother hasn't always been the most behaved, but we're working on that, because as his older sister, I feel it's my job to encourage him, and let him know what to expect once he's out in the real world. He's had to grow up faster than many kids his age...we both have. He was 13 when we lost our Mommy, and if the term "Mama's Boy" was in the dictionary, my BLB's pic would be right next to it. 

I know that 13 is a critical age, and on a certain level I know how he feels, but he's yet to let me (or anyone else) into that part of him that I know mourns our loss. As the youngest child, the only son, of a single mother...as someone new to the teenage world...I can't fully understand what's in his head. But I do know that I'm the only other person on this planet who knew what it was like to be this woman's child, and how it feels to have lost her. We inhabited the same woman's womb...we're bonded for life. So, through all the misbehaving, attitude, teenage rebellion, emotional walls, etc... I still let him know that I'm here. When I try to get in his head, he doesn't always want to go there with me...but I know he hears me when I speak to him. I know he knows that I adore him, and that I was there when he was born, and that I'll always be with him. Just like our Mommy will always be with the both of us. And whenever I have days like this, I remember how much he means to me, and how much we meant to her. And it brightens my day.
xoxo♥
PS: The second picture was taken earlier this year at my brother's 8th grade promotion. He's about 6'5'' now. And growing. I've already got my ass-kickin' shoe stank face ready for the fast-tailed girls that have been swarming since puberty hit!