It's hard to tell about a person from when they're young. You just never know how life will shape them, or what they can do.
Sometimes though, you see glimpses of greatness.
My little brother Paul was the fourth born in our family - just in time for Christmas 1974. He made a lovely baby Jesus that year, while Michael was Joseph, I was Mary, and Peter was a proud shepherd (and a tired one - when did they get us up for that picture? 6am???)
He was a happy and easygoing kid, always positive and good fun to spend time with. He encapsulated the 'nerd' vibe in our family, entering the Science Bowl in middle school, so I was pretty sure he was going to grow up to be a science teacher or something like that. I didn't expect much. I mean, he was just Paul. My cheerful little brother.
But there was something more in him, and I first saw signs of it during a church activity - I believe it was one of the first ones he ever went to as a teenager.
He'd just turned 12, and our church was going to dance for charity. They were sponsoring a dance contest that was literally going to last all night long, from 6pm to 6am, or until there was a last person standing.
All night long? Were you kidding me? I was so excited, and as soon as the dance started, myself and everyone else took off, dancing with all our might. Dancing all night! I can totally do this!
I looked over at Paul whilst I lost myself in whirling dervish mode.
What was he doing?
He did this measly little side-to-side dance step. I kept looking at him like, what are you doing boy? We're here all night - we can LET LOOSE! I danced even harder.
He just stepped from side to side with the music. The same simple step, over and over again.
As time wore on, kids started dropping. Midnight came, then 1am, then 2am.
All night turned out to be a really long time. The enthusiastic dancing slowed, until we were swaying and dead on our feet, wishing we could stop and just sleep.
But if we did...that was it. We were out.
What was at once exciting and amazing suddenly became something of a Red Shoes experience - dance monkeys dance, or face the consequences!
Out of the corner of my drooping eyes at 3am...there was my little brother Paul. Stepping from side to side, not stopping. My rabbit approach to winning the race did not serve me as well as the tortoise approach was serving him.
Guess who won the contest?
And I remember thinking to myself, "Paul? Hmmmm..."
Since then, he developed himself into a handsome looker of a kid,
was the romantic hero of the theater in high school,
served his mission in Brazil,
graduated with his bachelor's and master's degree (the first of us to accomplish that particular feat), married the brilliant Sarah M. Eden (writer of terrific historical fiction),
had a couple of equally brilliant children,
got his black belt in Tae Kwon Do around the same time I did,
became a head web developer at Brigham Young University (who saved our butts several times when we were trying to install software and other such things),
and most recently, managed to audition for and win a spot in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
His slow-burn approach has served him well over the years. A genius in the family, and I knew it since he was twelve. So proud of my little bro!
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