E.P. Flashbacks

In honor of middle bro's bday, Lance and I have decided to give a shout out of some of our favorite Eric-isms and memories.
1. In case you didn't know, Eric's middle name is Patrick. Coincidence that he was born on St. Patty's day? I don't think so! As far as I know, he didn't have a middle name so it's a good thing he was born on today's date and Patrick isn't half bad combined with Eric. And to add to the irony, our mother's name is Patricia but she used to go by "Patty." Creepy, creepy, creepy! Another word on the bro's name....Eric Patrick....That's right. His initials are E.P. Our great-grandfather used to say they stood for "Energy Plus" b/c Eric was uncontainable as a little tyke.
2. Speaking of uncontainable....our mom swore she would never get one of those harness things for kids. You know, the one's that look like they're for dogs but parents inevitably strap them onto their offspring and attach one end to their wrist to prevent losing their child in grocery stores. Well, Eric was a mover, shaker, and changer. Mom changed her mind real quick with E.P. on the loose and Eric was hinged to a blue and white harness everywhere he went for quite awhile.
3. In typing about losing kids.....I'm reminded that Eric has been lost several times over the years. Once at a Christian training in Green Lake, Wisconsin. We finally found him climbing a tree. I believe he also holds the record for most times forgotten at the laundromat in Litchfield, Illinois.
4. Laundromats remind me of water. Eric has always been a fan of the water. We used to swim for hours and he was quite good at splashing you right in the eyes! Talented brother of ours! We never did heed the warning to wait 15 minutes after eating before swimming but never regretted the decision. Mom never wanted to be confused if we were playing or actually needing help. Our secret code word for playing lifeguard and not yelling help was "peanuts."
5. One thing you should always know about Eric's love of water is that there are limits. Take water on sidewalks for example. Never spray a sidewalk with ants on it and Eric nearby. The bro will quickly race to protect their colonies and save the queen from certain demise.
6. In reference to ants, Eric has loved ants for years. He had ant colonies in the house, spent hours pouring over ant colonies in the yard, played the game "SimAnt," and has transported colonies from North Carolina to Illinois via bus to keep them alive. Dedication to the survive (or takeover) of ants!
7. Eric has spent several summers in North Carolina. He has some the best kid quoteables from working at camp Ridgecrest. I never tire of hearing him tell them. One of my favorites is when the camp had their annual breakfast where the staffers and campers would throw, slingshot, and toss the food in the mess hall. Apparently one camper couldn't quite handle the chaos. Cowering under the table, he exclaimed, "It's like a bad dream I can't wake up from! It's a NIGHTMARE!!!!!"
8. Eric's camp name bestowed to him by fellow staffers was "sage meerkat." Sage of course references wisdom. I'm not sure what the meerkat's all about. If you weren't aware, Eric has vast amounts of knowledge on just about any topic...probably how he ended up with the sage part of his name. Many of these facts are random and uninteresting but usually true.
9. Eric's love of facts goes way back. He used to read these mini-encyclopedia books and regurgitate the 411 to whoever was in earshot. One book was every type of truck known to man. Another was on dinosaurs.
10. Speaking of books, Eric used to love the book "Trouble with Trumpets." You may not know this, but it is not actually about musical intruments, but really about creatures called Trumpets who fought against the Grumpets. See said book for more details.
11. FYI...Eric did play the musical instrument...the trumpet before moving onto the french horn.
12. Eric does enjoy many aspects from the French. That is to say, Nutella, crepes, french fries, french toast; however, he does not speak French but only a little Spanish.
13. Now many of the Spanish persuasion tend to fall in the Catholic genre of religiosity. Incidentally, Eric attend 4 years of undergraduate education in Catholic insitutions. He did his first 2 years at Springfield College (where I also went for a year) and then transfered to Benedictine University to finish his health sciences degree.
14. Unsure of what to do with his health sciences degree, he now has a great job health coaching people with WebMD.
15. Last fall, Eric put his web skills to work when he was the covert creator of the blog "Hunt for Pumpkin October."
16. Eric is not naive to the world of the covert. He used to play covert operations when we lived in the country. Back in the day, we used walkie-talkies to communicate between lookout posts (i.e. trees) while awaiting incoming persons (i.e. parents coming up the driveway in the car). Our favorite game was fighting (i.e. throwing dirt clods) dinosaurs (i.e. trees) while hunkered down on Dinosaur Hill (i.e. the pile of dirt left over from digging the house).
17. Since we're communicating all things bro here, Mom used to think Eric had a hearing problem since he didn't really talk until he was two. Turns out, he didn't. I personally believe that he more that makes up for it now (smile) and only suffered from "selective hearing" as a child.
18. Also as a child, Eric and I had a sandbox. We were supposed to "share" it but often had to have Mom come out and measure the middle to draw a line. Now, I liked to build elaborate cities with my half. Eric liked to pretend creatures or aircrafts were attacking his half. These attacks incidently resulted in "bombs" hitting my buildings as well.
19. Remember when hairclips were big in the late 80s? Well, Eric thought my hairclips were the perfect shape to replicate aircrafts. Sometimes my hairclip/aircrafts were "relocated to the mudhole where they lined up in fleets.
20. Farm and Fleet happens to sell items that are necessary for the makings of manly men including the rugged and durable material called fleece. Eric can usually be found lounging at home with his favorite, hole-peppered fleece.
21. Eric's favorite movies include Star Wars, Short Circuit, and Lord of the Rings.
22. Speaking of wars, Eric used to have a shirt that said "Civil War Nut" on it. He loves to watch the History channel for hours.
23. He also voluntarily took classes on history in college and enjoys history books in addition to the History channel.
24. He also likes to watch Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel.

Well, in honor of Eric's 24th bday, I shall conclude the list with 24. Hopefully, the myth of Eric has been somewhat cleared up with this 24 insights into my loveable, hilarious, and entertaining brother.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO!