My relationship with my brother has evolved a lot over the years, but one thing that has never changed is that he is the one person I have always sought approval from. Even when I was little, I wanted him to think I was cool. We fought a lot when we were little, mostly about really petty things like who had control over the remote for the tv, but the year my family moved to Alabama, our relationship changed. My brother was starting his senior year of high school and I was only going into 10th grade. Because the schools in South Carolina are a bit more advanced than Alabama's, Cameron stayed in Rock Hill to finish up high school there, while my parents and I moved to Montgomery.
That year, my brother came to Montgomery for my birthday and brought along my best friend, Ally. It was the best birthday surprise I could ever imagine...See, my birthday is April 29th and my brother's birthday is April 30th! Spending our birthdays together was an amazing birthday present after spending that year apart. I never really believed the saying that distance makes the heart grow fonder, but that year, I learned it's true. (While I'm being cliche...) You never know how much something, or someone, means to you until you don't have them anymore.
My brother told me that us moving to Montgomery ruined a lot of his ideas about that year. He had been looking forward to being able to drive me to school everyday, and even teaching me how to drive. He was disappointed that we missed that opportunity, but even more than that, I couldn't even imagine going through my senior year without my family with me. I think that year forced us both to grow up a good bit.
Cameron spent the next year in Montgomery, working at Starbucks and taking amazing pictures, until he left on a mission trip to Bulgaria. The night before he left, I had one of the worst dreams of my life...but the funny thing was that in the end, after mass genocide and gas chambers, my brother made a comment in my dream that made me confident that everything was going to be ok. There was a bus, in my dream, that hovered like some kind of space craft. Cameron simply said that it, the things happening in my dream, wasn't possible because the weight of the bus with people in it and the amount of power that it would take to keep it hovering off the ground at the speed it was going just wouldn't work. That's my brother.
My brother went from the person I sought approval from to being a role model for me. Cameron has a heart for people. He has an artist's eye that sees the most beautiful things in even the most horrible situations. I learned that after his first trip to China. Seeing is photos made me feel something for the Chinese people that I hadn't felt before. I wanted to meet them and love them.
In 2008, my entire family had the opportunity to travel to China. It was the year of the Beijing Olympics, and we all got to go to an event, but that was nothing compared to the time we spent with the students there. The year after that, my brother and I got to go back to China to spend more time with university students. They have such a desire to learn and grow together. They were so incredibly inspiring to me; I will never forget them.
This past year, Cameron graduated from Winthrop University with a BA in Art with a concentration in photography. Everyone was there to celebrate at the little house he rented with three of his friends. I had just turned 21 and he was excited to educate me in the world of alcohol, but the coolest part to me wasn't throwing the party for him, but the way the community of people who love him came together just to honor him. I loved it. He completely deserved it.
Cameron's friends have this amazing kind of community that I admire and desire so much for myself and my friends here. It's this community of incredibly gifted artists who now work together in a studio called Space 157. Even before the studio, they had the Friday Arts Project. These artists don't just work with each other, they live together (not literally). They share food and fellowship as often as they can and they celebrate every moment they have together. For me, they have been the embodiment of Christ in the way they share community and love with each other. This week, my brother and his friends are in New York City for the I AM conference...the city is filled with Christian artists and I love that my brother has gotten to be a part of it.
My brother and I have been through a lot together over the past 22 years. I was his worst birthday present back in 1989, but I think only good things have come from having such a smart, artistic and loving big brother. I can't imagine my life without him.
我爱你哥哥
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