Cath: Breaking Back

So I (Catherine) may or may not have an obsession with books written by or about athletes. If an athlete wrote it; I'll probably read it. A couple months ago in my Mental Aspects of Sports Performance class (sounds like a super cool class right? IT WAS!) we watched a documentary about a tennis player named James Blake. In the documentary he talks about his career and a really sad event. He also goes on to talk about a book he just finished writing. So of course after class I went to amazon and bought that book (along with a few other athletes' books). I finished reading this book the day before I came to Alaska. But here is the story: in 2004 James was practicing in Rome for the Masters when he slipped on the clay court and collided with the iron poles of the net. He ended up breaking his neck. On his way back to the US two days later he learned that his dad had been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. He was able to spend the last two months of his father's life right by his dad's side. In the book he says that breaking his neck was the best thing that could have ever happened to him. If not for his injury he probably would have never taken that leave of absence from tennis and would have never gotten that final time with his dad. He never realized how amazing his dad was until he got to spend all that time with him.

super awesome book. i would definitely recommend this book!

Anyways the reason I'm blogging about this is because I feel a little bit like James. Don't worry I didn't break my neck and my dad doesn't have cancer, but it did take me coming to Alaska to realize what an awesome brother I have. It has been so great having Steve here with me. I always tease him about how he follows me everywhere, but lets be honest it is me that does all of the following. I followed him to USU and now all the way to Alaska, and not once have I heard him complain about having his little sis follow him around. I seriously could not have asked for a better brother. When we were younger we used to fight like any other brother and sister, but things have definitely changed in the past couple of years. The only fighting we do now is when we have box out matches on the way downstairs to see who gets control of the TV. And can I just say that I put up a pretty good fight :)

So here are all the reasons why I think Steve is pretty great:

He is seriously probably one the funniest people I know. He can lighten any mood with one of his jokes/ office quotes.
He knows almost everything about any sport. Even sports he doesn't play he can tell you a bunch of stuff about it.

He is quite the peacemaker at our house. He doesn't like tension and fighting and he is usually the first to apologize if an argument breaks out. He is not afraid to tell me when I'm wrong and I've overreacted (which I never do :)) And he usually tells me when I need to apologize too. Earlier this week we got into bit of a disagreement, and now I'll admit he was right. He came and apologized to me even when we both knew he was right. He is amazing!
He runs almost everyday; which is something that we Blakeslees hate doing. The past couple of months he has wanted to get into shape and he is doing a fantastic job. He has starting eating healthier and he really is such an example in fitness!
He has such a strong testimony of the gospel. He served a very faithful 2 year mission and still lives his life that way. He has been talking to one of the kids we work with about the church.
One of the best uncles I've ever seen. He watched the movie 12 dancing princesses once with my niece Paige and that is quite the accomplishment since that movie was so awful! He loves to play cars and manly things like that with my nephews. He is always willing to watch my nephew Carter while we're at school (I'm not sure if thats for Carter or the fully stocked fridge).
He is one the smartest people I know, little bit of a nerd, but thats ok!
He has the best attitude of anyone I know. He never complains when he is asked to do something. He sings and does the funniest dances at work to help the time go by faster. When I complain about the job he usually tells me to be glad I have a job or something along those lines.