My Brother Carlton

Saturday, May 29, 2010

I have mixed emotions about today. On the one hand, it was tons of fun, and I had a great time. On the other, today was the last day I'll see my brother Carlton for about a year. He's going into the Navy, and he leaves for boot camp before I get home from college. So I'm grateful I at least got to see him for a few hours today.

For some strange reason, he decided to vacation in Phoenix, Arizona, for Memorial Day weekend. Why Phoenix, I will never know. It's not your typical tourist destination, though Carlton has never really been a typical person, so I guess it fits. Since I'm in St. George this weekend, we devised a plan to meet about halfway at Lake Havasu. I talked Skyler into making the approximately nine-hour round trip, and we agreed on a time and place to meet Carlton and his girlfriend.

Skyler and I had a few unfortunate occurrences during the trip there, including an encounter with a police officer and a minor detour involving a wrong turn. But we eventually made it, met Carlton and Sarah, and had a fantastic afternoon. First was lunch at a quaint diner with a furry sense of humor, then a drive to the actual London Bridge (which for some reason was transported from England to Nowhere-ville, Arizona) in my brother's red convertible mustang rental car, and finally an hour or so at a local beach. Afternoon well spent.

Besides the fact that we drove around in a convertible and I managed to work on a nice tan at the beach, the trip was a great way to say goodbye to Carlton. He's always been one of those older brothers that you see in the movies, the kind that makes you think 'man I want a brother like that.' He taught me the best way to slow dance, took me out on dates to get ice cream, and listened when I cried over hurt feelings. I always got so excited when he would come home from college or Louisiana or any of the other places he's been. Even when my part in the annual parent-wake-up-call on Christmas was as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and I spent the morning pulling Carlton (aka Santa) around on our old green sled, I was ecstatic to be doing something, anything, with my brothers. So it'll be hard to have him gone for real, especially to the Navy, but I know he'll be a fantastic military man. I'll just be grateful for all the memories I have with him, and hope that there will be more memories made in the future.