Today my brother Austen would have been 24. We're only 16 months apart. I loved having a brother so close in age. Growing up I always had a playmate and a partner in crime when it came to picking on our younger two siblings, William and Anabelle. William didn't even come around until 1992, so for years it was just the two of us. And eventually we became 4 (siblings)... and now more... and our sibling love grew. But Austen and I will always have that special bond. For those of you who don't know, my brother struggled with addiction for a long time. Thursday he lost that battle. I can't believe it's only been two days. It feels like it's been an eternity since my mom (SMom, in this post) called me to tell me. I have amazing friends from school that took me home, packed me, booked me a flight, and got me to the airport. Thank you. I couldn't have done it without you. A little about my brother... Austen, "Bubs," was someone that could always mak
Playing in the sprinklers. Lilleigh at horseback riding lessons. Easter. American Girl horses from our neighbor. 8 years and 8 balloons. Brendon and the girls camping in the backyard. Starting our butterfly garden. Adeline and her friends walking to class at PATH. Making pies with Tita.
As an adult, your spouse is typically referred to as your other half. And rightly so. My husband brings out the best in me, and His walk with the Lord encourages me. Sometimes I still can't believe I get to be his wife. My other half he is. Because I can't imagine who I would be today without the example of my husband. And yet, growing up, and for more than half of my life, I had a different other half. There was rarely a time growing up that our names were said apart. It was always "Ashleigh and Austen." Peanut butter and jelly. You just don't have one without the other. I think this is the case so often with siblings, we are truly raised "together." When Austen died, I felt lost. Our family is staggered in sibling pairs. Everyone has their "other half." I lost half of my life's file catalog. He was there, on every card. And he had cards in his file with my name on them. This isn't a perfect analogy. But I felt like half of my bei
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