Thinking about the Parker-Guy

The other day, when Mike got out his journal to write in it, he found something that I had slipped into the front cover when cleaning.

"The 'Best Man' Toast
"Mike & Brittany Morgan
"December 2008
"As a few of you probably know, I don't have a lot of experience being a 'best man.' I know that's hard to believe. For a long time I wasn't sure what I wanted to say.
"But over the last several months I've gotten to know Mike a little. I know that he loves my sister and has a strong testimony. I've decided that if I ever had an older brother--I'd want it to be him.
"I love my sister Brittany more than anything in the whole world and look up to her. Most important is her testimony and knowledge of the gospel. I'm glad she has made right choices adn is sealed in the temple.
"I'd like to offer a toast to Mike and Brittany Morgan--Thanks for showing me the right way to do things. May you always stay close to each other, to the gospel and to the Lord."

It's not signed, but I'm going to tell you all about the author anyway. This is the toast my then-eleven-year-old brother Parker gave at the luncheon right after my wedding. He was the best man 1) because Mike doesn't have any brothers and 2) he's just awesome. Reading that, you'd never think a pre-deacon wrote it, right?
Perhaps I should explain his nickname-- When James was learning to talk, he couldn't say 'Parker', but somehow had picked up the word 'guy', so he called Parker 'guy' for a long time. After that, even when he became 'Parker' again, the guy remained. Now it's mostly just my mom that says it. :)
After reading that toast though, I've been thinking a lot about my brother, and how much I don't appreciate him enough.
Growing up, he suffered multitudinous abuses from us sisters. I'll only speak for myself, but I know that during my year and a half when I hated the world as a teenager, he usually got the brunt of it. Maybe little brothers are easier to find things wrong with, but that was the case. And I know it carried over with certain other sisters who went through similar phases. Whether it was his whistling, his cheerfulness, or his general brotherliness, he was the one who always got the screaming tantrums from his sisters, and whom my mother vainly tried to defend in the face of it.
In the face of all this, somehow he managed to still love me. Going back after my first year of college, he was one of the siblings who actually seemed the most happy to see me, and now he talks to me on the phone, recommends books for me and Mike to read, and is just plain awesome. So today I just feel like telling some stories about my kid brother Parker, because I've been thinking about him.
When he was younger--we're going to guess 3rd or 4th grade, our neighbors had a Pit Bull puppy. She was huge. And they were not very good at keeping hold of her in their yard/house. Well, one day, Parker and Emma (who would have been in 1st or 2nd grade) were walking home from the bus stop after school, this pit bull puppy came bounding out of the house at the end of the cul-de-sac towards them. Now, I want to paint a picture for you. Only in recent years has Parker achieved the stature he has now (he's taller than mom now). He was this little kid with a big head, and Emma Grace has never been big at all. So we're looking at two little Whiting children, alone under the oppression of this gigantic dog, whose intentions they knew nothing of.
What does Parker do? Rather than run away, as I probably would have done, he pushes Emma behind him and faces the dog. Now, I don't remember if the owner came out and called her just in time, or if Park ended up kicking the thing, but either way, I was so proud of him. Despite the fact that no one in my family is in any way fond of dogs (except Nonny), he thought more about protecting his sister than not getting bit. And he was like nine.
More recently, while we were visiting my family over the week of New Year's, a few of us stayed up late to play a game of Phase 10. During the entirety of the game, Parker was talking, whether it was bad jokes, anecdotes from school, or even whistling while everyone was organizing their cards. Mike leaned over to me and said, "he really doesn't stop making noise, does he?" Now, initially I was annoyed. But then I realized that if all we did was sit and stare at the cards in our hands, we wouldn't be having any fun. Parker, you are the life of the party.
So, that's my brother. He's smart (ridiculously so), funny, and we love him tons. Just a thought. :)