Duncan Hines, like the cake mix.

His favourite candy is Smarties, he loves cars, playing catch, and turning ACDC up louder than it should ever be. He loves his friends and spending hours on XBOX, even when I want the TV.
He's my little brother, and he is my hero.

You see, my brother has cerebral palsy. For those of you who don't know what that is, in short, it means the parts of his brain that should make all his muscles work properly together and his brain functions correlate with is age, those parts don't work the way they should.
But I wouldn't have it any other way.

We have at home spa days, he even paints my nails!

Yes, you heard me properly: I like that my brother has disabilities, that he's handicapped, that he's "special", whatever you want to call it; I'm glad he is the way he is.
Now, before you get all up in a tizzy, hear me out: My brother is one of the happiest, most caring, beautiful, loving, and absolutely selfless people you could ever imagine meeting in all of the universe. His disabilities have not only opened my eyes to a world that most people would rather leave unnoticed and untouched, but he's taught me to embrace and laugh at everything that makes us unique as individuals - no what matter those traits may be.

One of the proudest moments of my entire
life: his grade 8 graduation.

I'm not saying that it isn't hard, because believe me, my life has been anything but easy. Especially having a brother who can't walk or talk properly and who can't always think or care for himself but I wouldn't be who I am today without what he alone has added to my life.
I've learned how to cook for, clean up after, and care for another human. Something most of my friends wont do for another several years when they have kids of their own. I can usually spot a hazard before it arises, I know how to create endless amusement for someone with the attention span of a chipmunk on speed. Better yet, I've learned how to tell adversity and those decks stacked against me to "come at me bro", and really mean it. I've learned how to appreciate the big things, the little things and everything in between.

What about all that makes him my hero?
He gets up every morning and faces a world that does nothing but tell him that he's not good enough and that he's missing out on so much because he's 'different'. But instead of letting all that negativity get him down, he looks it back in the face and shows that same world that there's nothing he can't do.

People look at him for what's keeping him in the wheelchair and what he can't do, he looks at his wheelchair and thinks of everything he can do because of it - even if that means running over my feet and giving me a heart attack when he goes too fast down the sidewalk.

Since my third birthday (yes, we are 3 and a half hours shy of being exactly 3 years apart), I have had a shining beacon of hope, joy, and the purest love a sister could ask for right in front of me. For the last almost 17 years, he has cheered on, fought me for the remote, I've stolen his sweaters and he's scratched my CDs. He's kept me grounded..and got me grounded. He's pulled my hair and taken my pillows, but even through everything we've braved together and understand me when I tell you that that list isn't a short one either.. He has always, without even the possibility of a doubt, believed in me.

I don't know what, or who I would be without him.

Did I mention his name is Duncan Hines? Yep. No joke, he's that cool.

some basement dwellers and a disney singalong, with a side order of belonging

Growing up in Brantford means one thing..okay, it means a lot of things: you know that the bus station is more than just a method of transportation - it's home to the best fry stand in town, you know that there will most definitely be a Tim Hortons within two blocks of wherever you find yourself at any given time, it means that you know going under the Lorne bridge at night is just asking for trouble, and you know that construction on King George Rd was the worst idea the city ever had. 
But above all that, you know that at some point in your life you wanted nothing more than to leave. Escape the four walls it felt like were created within the likes of Paris Rd, Powerline, Wayne Gretzky Pkwy and the far side of Eagle Place. Most of us do in fact leave, but that same lot..we come back. 

I did just that - leave. I did the second part too - I came back. 
However, I will tell you this, I came back for different reasons than I thought I would as a university student. I thought I'd be coming back to do mountains of laundry and pillage my grandmother's pantry but instead I found myself coming back for something I never would've expected. 
My excitement for the weekend not-so-gradually shifted from being about sleeping in my own bed and doing laundry, but instead, it quickly became about going home.   
I don't mean home to my house, I mean home to my church.
Never in a million years did I think that a group of sarcastic, energetic, Jesus-lovin'-go-getters found in the basement of an old mall would be the people that I would come to call family...Well.. I guess if the shoe fits! 

I have been completely accepted, teased, and loved just for being me. And I have been endlessly encouraged as I figure out just who that 'me' really is! I have been surrounded by wonderful people that I now can't imagine my life without. I just keep thinking about the song from Camp Rock...quit judging me and just read the lyrics:

"I've always been the kind of girl
That hid my face
So afraid to tell the world
What I've got to say

But I have this dream
Right inside of me
I'm gonna let it show, it's time
To let you know

This is real, this is me
I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, now
Gonna let the light, shine on me
Now I've found cause who I am
There's no way to hold it in
No more hiding who I want to be
This is me"

Since joining Freedom House a few months ago, I have helped with a 3-day winter carnival we locals call  Frosty Fest, a completely unrelated turkey bingo, a fiftieth birthday party, a week of prayer, and most recently, a massive Easter egg hunt..and each time I find myself thinking how much I love the feeling that I'm part of something so much bigger than myself.   But as much as these events and such are about more than little ol'me, in doing them, with my fellow Freedom Housers, I'm learning SO much about who I am and who I've been created to be. 

It's been an adventurous gong show and a half, but I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the whole world.

The best part is.. it's just getting started.

Cheers.