Happy Birthday Brother Dear!

He's a REAL LIVE Nephew of my Uncle Sam.....Born on the 4th of July!!!!

Yep, that's right.  I have only one brother and his name is Gerald Lee Romney and he was born on the 4th of July and today's his 64th birthday!  Jerry (as we call him) has a beautiful voice and he loves to sing.  He is ten years older than I am.  One year we were at a 4th of July parade and celebration.  There was a huge group of people standing around and then all of a sudden a young teenage boy dressed up as Uncle Sam started to sing:

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy
A Yankee Doodle, do or die
A real live nephew of my uncle Sam's
Born on the Fourth of July...

I remember turning to my mom to say something like that kid could totally be Jerry, cause he was born on the 4th of July.  When I said that, my mom smiled and winked at me.  I did a quick double take and realized that it was my brother Jerry singing after all!

Jerry was such a great brother to me.  He hated to do things alone and so he always wanted one of his sisters to tag along.  He had 4 sisters, and loved every one of us.  It's not every day that a brother gets to be involved during each of his sisters "dating" lives, but Jerry was.  He was a great dancer and we each have special memories of going to dances and having him take us out on the dance floor and doing the swing and other fun dances and just having a blast with him!  This is one of my favorite pictures of Jerry!

Jerry had two special knick names for me.  I never let anyone else call me those names.  They were "mitch" or "mud".  But when he was teasing me he'd call me "mitch-super mud". :-)

Jerry reminds me of my father.  He is so sweet and a man without guile.  He is a wonderful father and husband to his wife Pat, and daughters Sarah and Emily. 

Jerry loves the Lord and has always been an amazing home teacher and missionary.  There is nothing he wouldn't do to help someone else.  He is very proud of his heritage and  I'm so grateful to be able to call him my brother.  I love you Jerry - Happy Birthday!