Next Monday is my younger brother Brian's sixteenth birthday. Not only is it hard to believe that he'll be able to start driving, and that he's long since outgrown me, but it makes me feel old. I'm 7 1/2 years older than him, so I can remember him growing up very easily. I can also remember being sixteen myself - even though that was seven years ago! I remember my friends and I getting our driver's permits and licenses - we thought we were so cool.

I guess the weirdest thing to me as I watch my brother get older is remembering when I was his age and thinking about how much time has passed since then. Before I know it, he'll be applying to college and moving away from home. Since I just graduated from college last May, I still feel like a recent grad, and my brother going to college seems like something very distant in the future. Maybe if I'm lucky he'll go to Notre Dame, giving me an excuse (not that I really need one) to visit him and ND more frequently!

Sadly, I'm past the age where birthdays mark anything particularly exciting, but my brother can still celebrate each birthday for a while now. So I hope he has plenty of ice cream - with his metabolism he could eat a whole gallon and not gain an ounce, enjoys driving for the first time, and has lots of fun celebrating his day at home and with his friends.

Happy birthday, Brian!