Stream of thought memories of Nathan

. . . Nathan and Raymond in a physical fight and me crying hoping that would make them stop :) . . .  I already mentioned in another post a memory of a Christmas that Nathan gave me a beautiful dress, and feeling surprised at his skill in choosing it . . . Nathan in high school being the youngest member of the jazz choir and being called Mickey Mouse . . . Nathan having heated discussions with mom and dad (high school) on gospel topics - they were probably mostly heated with mom :) . . . Nathan's awesome red hair (I hope I have a red head baby) . . . his awesome blind eye - not that I thought it was awesome because he was blind in that eye, but because the tear drop shape of his pupil was so cool to me, plus it's a slightly different color! . . . his crazy "girly finger" (his words) which I just always found fascinating, especially because when he played guitar he had this special little glove just for that finger to make it less painful to play . . . I also enjoyed watching his prominent Adam's apple move when he talked and sang :) . . . him buying two sets of boxing gloves and duking it out in the backyard with friends for fun! . . . him padding around the house in mismatched socks and/or Birkenstocks . . . occasionally walking around the house in just boxers . . . him dancing ballet in tights, in a very masculine way . . .  him saying something to me that kind of implied that I was too fat to be a ballroom dancer at BYU, then soon after being apologized to because he realized how it sounded and that wasn't precisely what he meant . . . 
hahaha Some of these memories seem like they could be bad memories for me (mostly just the first and last I guess), but they're not really. I have to admit freely that I don't have very specific memories of interactions with Nathan. He is six years older than me, and I view him as intellectually superior so I personally am a little hesitant to try to converse with him one-on-one, but I love to listen to him talk to other people because it reveals how his mind works. It's really different from mine, and really amazing. For instance I remember a conversation about honesty. He posed the question, "Is it always wrong to lie?" Mom instantly responded, and my initial thought was, "Yes!" Typical to Nathan style (I'll call it devil's advocate) he cited the Holocaust, and the people that lied to German authorities about Jews they were hiding in their homes. "Was lying wrong in that instance?" he challenged. Really, can it be any wonder that Nathan is suited to be a lawyer? hahaha
Also, I just have to say that I love and respect Nathan. He is amazingly gifted and talented, and it's so fun to see him in the roles of husband and father. When Raymond left for college or a mission or something, I consoled myself with the knowledge that I still had at least one brother to hug (obviously, that was before Andrew came along). I loved hearing Nathan practicing jazz piano music. He could see that I really liked it and he actually bought me a video as a gift once that was designed to teach improvisation on the piano. Sad to say, I never watched the whole thing through (although I'm pretty sure he did) - I still have it just in case I decide I have the courage. What was neat about it was that he noticed how much I enjoyed it, and he gave me tools to help me learn to do it myself. I just didn't have enough courage to follow through. :)
Happy birthday, brother!