a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

The way I see it, there are just way too many someones and somethings that have had a cumulative impact on me. Who I am, what I believe, my purpose and direction in life... nothing about me would be the way it is without countless factors being placed along my path at just the right time. So for me to declare that one thing or person has had more of an impact than all others just can't happen. It's the same reason that I can't pick my favorite song or movie... I just don't want to rule out all the others. With these questions, I'm willing to admit that I'm a commit-a-phob.

What I can do is pick one and tell you about it. I’ve experienced life without it, and then experienced the entire range of introduction to familiarity, and so the impact can be clearly traced. It’s my brother, Beau.


I’m almost nine years older than Beau, so I feel like I had an almost entire childhood as the youngest, and then a bit of childhood and adolescence as the middle. And considering that, my personality has definitely been affected by this combination of youngest and middle child existence. I also had a front-row seat to how my parents parent, which is much different than viewing it from the perspective of the parented child.

But probably more than any other impact on my life, having a little brother has helped me understand how prone I am to teaching. It’s not something I ever thought about doing, but it was a big part of my life post-Beau.

Thanks brother.

(Beau is a little more grown up than that picture. But it is just such a great look.)