Brett

Way back at the turn of the millennium, my grade 7 teacher gave us an assignment that required us to research and write a paper on someone we considered a hero. I had led a sheltered and rather unexciting life up until then (minus the 3 suspensions I received in grades 3, 3 (again) and 6) and wasn't exactly surrounded by a bevy of people I considered "heroes". Not in its traditional sense anyway. I remember classmates selecting people like Wayne Gretzky (Grant), The Moffats (<-- I don't know if Samantha actually chose this boy band but I assume she did), or Tiger Woods (<-- at the time, Michael was under the impression that Tiger Woods was considerably less sleazy than he actually turned out to be) and I was at a loss at who to choose.

I can't remember the logic or reasoning behind the following decision (apathy as likely as not) but I ended up writing my hero project on a then 10 year old Brett, who I had only known for something like a month due to a recently initiated friendship with his brother, Grant. For the next week, Grant and Brett detailed a biography of the latter's life while I took notes and turned it into my "hero" project. I got an 18/20 on that project so, you know, not too shabby for an academically disinterested young punk.

Brett is a funny guy. He really is. He sees the humor in life and will gladly inform you of why you ought to be laughing at something if you're not already doing so. He has a GREAT memory and is always good for one of those "Remember when..." moments that people love. He's also pretty awesome because he is an avid fan of the Toronto Blue Jays. As Canada's only baseball team (and the only MLB franchise outside the U.S.) it surprises me sometimes how rarely I meet people who enjoyed the sport. This is a pity because I am a huge baseball fan and people rarely care about the things that I find interested and/or exciting about the sport - it's one of the things that are a big part of my life that I rarely get a chance to talk about (badminton and yo-yos being some other examples). Brett, however, IS a baseball fan and the only other person I know who actively follows the Toronto Blue Jays and it's just nice to be able to talk to someone about how the Jays are doing and why "HOLY CRAP THE JAYS TRADED VERNON WELLS" is worthy of being written in capital letters.

Brett also subscribes to my awesome theory that when you recount stories, you should wave your hands in frenzied manner to signify that people are emotional and/or excited.

One thing you have to admire about Brett is the bond he shares with his brother. As someone who's never been particularly close to his own brother, I always respect and admire people whose best friends are their siblings because it just shows a kind of solidarity that perhaps you don't see as often these days. You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family - and because of that, the amount of understanding and support you have to have for a sibling in order to share a bond goes beyond what you can reasonably expect from your friends. Brett has this in abundance and it really is amazing.