If I’m lucky, Roger is on afternoons and will get to read this while it is still his birthday. Given the “unluckiness” of the snow that has been falling today, I’m not optimistic. Still, I’m glad to be celebrating my littlest-big brother’s birthday. I have a list of things I like about Roger to share.

* I can’t help but start with the fact that he shovelled the driveway and sidewalk when he was visiting in January. It was appreciated then and even more so today as I write with my socks still wet from my second round of shovelling in 4 hours.
* Roger always pitches in when he visits, whether it’s with something around the house that needs a few minutes attention or Reid who needs a tickle and even if she needs some direction.
*  Roger sends me politically incorrect jokes now and again. Not too many but enough to provide the occasional laugh.
* Roger has a web cam so that Reid can see parts of the family even though they’re far away. He does a mean “head flying through space” move on it.
*  Roger is teaching Reid the joy of walking - at the Wheatley Provincial Park, near Grandma Joyce’s house, wherever.
*  Roger has a yellow house. This gives him significant status in Reid’s eyes.
*  When our grandmothers were still alive, Roger took me to visit them. I was a teenager and trying to be cool or maybe independent (and self-centred as teenagers are) but he wanted me to remember the importance of family. It was a good lesson and I’m so glad that he lives it daily. I know that I try to.
* Roger notices things like beautiful moonrises, rabbits in the ditch next to the road and that sort of thing. He’ll point them out to you and you’ll be amazed at the things that are around you.
* Roger used to make jokes when I was younger, like, “Does your face hurt?” and I’d say, “No.” He would reply, “‘Cause it’s killing me,” and then we’d laugh. No wait a minute, he would laugh. I would harrumph. It was funny that I got caught more than once but I missed the humour back then.
* Roger took me on a little trip just before I started highschool. We went to Niagara Falls and other places, I think. It was great to hang with my big brother.
* Thanks to Roger, I was exposed to really good rock music as a teenager. It gave me street creds with the boys back then and that was important. 
* Roger walked me down the aisle when I married Ken. He kept me from tripping and falling in front of all those people. (Not an enitrely improbable thing to happen.)
* Roger took Reid and me camping when Reid was only 2.5. He did most of the work, took Reid for walks in the stroller at naptime and showed us the ropes.
* Roger is my go-to guy for financial advice and for other practical matters. He doesn’t try to replace Dad but he definitely helps to fill the void.
* When I was small, I was choking on a red, hard candy and Roger performed the [1] Heimlich Manoeuvre and dislodged it. Thanks isn’t enough but that’s all I’ve got.

Happy birthday, Roger.