Farewell Elder Bateman

This kid left yesterday, August 8th, which also happened to be his 19th birthday. He's only been gone one night, but I already miss him. Here's the top six things I'm going to miss about my little brother:

6. I'm going to miss watching t.v. with him. It may sound lame and boring, but we would just lay on the couch as we watched King of Queens episodes and laugh at them. We'd mix it up once in a while with country music videos, movies, and more recently, the Olympics. It wasn't the most productive time that was spent together, but book clubs are for my sisters-- t.v. club is for Collin and I.

5. I'm going to miss our dog humor. We've always loved our dogs. When we were younger we made up a theme song for Homer to the tune of the Zorro theme song. Since then, our humor has matured to calling Shep the Red-Headed Shep Child and saying that Aunt Lickersen is a Nazi. Other people won't get it, but sitting on the porch with our dogs was always a daily summertime event.

The Red-Headed Shep Child

4. I'm going to miss his annoying acts of brotherly love. He would try to annoy me like any little brother would. Usually with things that were gross or painful, like him trying to shove his sweaty socks down my throat, but they'd always somehow make me laugh.

3. I'm going to miss his sense of humor. His humor is kind of like his annoyance, it's very much like a little brother, but it always seemed to make me laugh. When I was in 5th grade I received an award and got a plaque that read "Great Kid Award." There was a period of time years later when he would sneak into my room and with the help of paper, a marker, and tape would change what my plaque read. I'd walk into my room to find plaques such as: "Fat Kid Award," "Dumb Kid Award," or "Akward Kid Award" (spelled like that.) They always made me laugh because they were so silly. More recently, he would always hide the toothpaste in the bathroom from me. It got to be pretty intense. His best spot was when he wrapped the toothpaste tube around the toilet paper roll thing.

  Arriving at the MTC

 2. I'm going to miss all of his help. I could always rely on him for help even when he wasn't especially enthusiastic about giving it. What I have in book-smarts I lack in street-smarts. Collin filled my street-smarts hole for me. I suppose I will have to call someone else now for directions...

1. I'm going to miss him.

Regardless of how much I'm going to miss him, I know he's in the right place. Two years may seem like a long time, but it's really small when compared to the eternity that Filipino families can spend together when Collin introduces the gospel into their lives. Two years really is a short sacrifice. He has the kind of heart that is willing to make that sacrifice. A heart that is kind, strong, and faithful--all things that will make him a great missionary. And for that, I'm proud of him.