MVB- Most Valuable Brother

I have two older brothers, Keith who is 4 years older than me and the father of my two adorable nieces. The other, Michael, is 7 years older than me and is currently the winner of the MVB (most valuable brother) award.

My parents divorced when I was 8 and we've never been close with my father, in fact he doesn't even know I'm engaged (that's a whole 'nother story). Seeing how I didn't grow up with much of a father, Michael stepped in and helped play the father role. He's always been there for me, whether it was teaching me how to drive stick shift, helping me apply to college AND co-signing my loan or helping me buy my car. He's the quintessential protective big brother and because of that he has NEVER liked any of the guys I dated. That is until I met Kristian.

Right from the first meeting Kristian and Michael really hit it off. They have no problem talking or hanging out when I'm not around and they've even talked about going on fishing and hunting trips together. Michael and our other brother aren't very close so I think it's really great that he now has Kristian to help fill that brother role I know he's been missing. Kristian has even taken over my role of helping Michael with dating advice.

When I got engaged Michael was thrilled and he offered to help out in anyway he could. I was hesitant to ask him for money for the wedding since he's not technically my father (though he acts like it at times). When he saw that we probably wouldn't be able to afford a honeymoon he stepped in offered to pay for our honeymoon! The entire honeymoon! As his wedding gift to us.
We were pretty much speechless but seeing how much he wanted to do this for us and knowing we could never afford it on our own we took him up on his offer.

The one thing about Michael is that he has really good and really expensive taste, even when it comes to his baby sister. He also really enjoys planning trips. He planned an entire two week trip to Europe for him and my mom this past spring. When we went over to his condo on Saturday he showed us a few options he found, all of which were awesome. And despite the fact that he is paying he was actually trying to convince us to go with the most expensive option. I have to admit it didn't take much arm twisting because the option he was hoping we would take was incredible.

On the drive home we were once again speechless, not believing that we actually had the chance to go on such an amazing trip. Michael will be paying for our accommodations, including the special "love" package, our airfare and our food and drinks. I really don't know how we could ever possibly repay him but I'm thinking our first born son might very likely end up with Michael as a middle name :)

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I reveal where we will be going....