Ganas

I wanted to take some time today to talk a little about my older brother, whom I introduced you to here. 

I don't think I ever told that you some people think he's just a regular ol' Joe... Looks normal enough, doesn't he?

Jess likes to play the guitar. As a teen, he was crazy about comic books and Dungeons & Dragons.

He had some wonderful friends: Chris, Kerry, Sean, - I could go on. They were thick as thieves for years.

He was into the Drill Team and ROTC.

He was a pain in my side; macho-man always telling his little sister what to do.

Now, he has an almost 16-year old daughter, Abby, that is the LOVE of his life.

He's got a wonderful family: his girlfriend Catina and her two kids.

He lives in North Carolina. He's a Paramedic.

We never see enough of him, but that's because of his job.

Besides being a paramedic, Jess has been in the Army for 18 years (this summer marks his anniversary). He enlisted in June 1993 - the same month and year my dad retired from the same branch of service.

Jesse has been trained by the best, to be the best. He has ganas. 

As a medic in the Army - he's probably seen it all.

(No dummies were harmed during the making of this blog post.)

It's fake.

A training exercise.

That's probably ketchup.

What's NOT FAKE is Jesse's will to succeed. To be the best. To help protect our country.

You may think this post is a little off base. I mean... its not Veteran's Day, or Memorial Day,

or the 4th of July.

Nope... not any of those days. That's usually when we do most of our conscience remembering, right?

Eh, it happens.

Today is Day 1 of 365 that Jesse is gone.

Back to Iraq for his fourth tour.

FOURTH.

(he's had 5 total tours, none of them rock 'n roll ones, though.)

This one, without a doubt, is the hardest. Jess is in a great place in his life. A great career. A loving (AND STRONG) woman as his partner. He just earned custody of his daughter (his ex-wife gave him a true gift). He has two other great kids in the house (L & K). He has a silly puppy named Mac.  

He has so much to live for and to be happy about.

But for the next year, he is going to do what he does best. He's going to stay alert, watch over his 'boys' and help to save lives. If you know me in real life, you may have heard me joke about him and his job.

"He administers band-aids for a living."

Of course I have to say things like that. Someone needs to put him in his place.

But the truth is Sgt. Aniol is the epitome of an American soldier.

For the next year, he will put all else before him. Again.

You know, I'm proud of all that I have accomplished in my 34 years.

My family, my education, my career. 

But I've never, ever sacrificed as Jesse has. I've never been in 140* degree heat eating rations on a "cool" Iraqi evening. I've never held a fallen comrade. I've never heard constant gun fire. Or seen the aftermath of roadside bombers.

Nope. I am safe and sound. At home.

Because of soldiers like Jesse.

For the next 365 days - I will proudly display the following on my blog:

Just waiting for my knuckle-head of a big brother to come home.

And he will.

Ganas, remember?