JAMESY

Today is my brother-in-law's birthday. Happy birthday, Jamie!
Apparently, I met Jamie once while I was in college and was rude to him (Lindsay 1, Jennie 8). I don't remember it but that's the family lore. He and Jennie were friends and then lost touch (read: they had a big fat crush on each other but she was dating someone). The time I do remember meeting Jamie was when Jennie brought him to the house once they started dating again in March 2006, after they had rekindled things. I remember she instant messaged me, so excited that she had a date with Jamie after all those years. One date led to A-day which led to more dates and lots of miles logged between Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, where Jamie was completing law school.
I was accompanying my sister to her ice-skating lesson sometime that spring (true story) and on the way, we had a nice long talk about Jamie. I told her (based on our family's current status) that she needed to take her time and wait a year to get married. Little did I know they were already planning not just to be engaged but married within the year.
...Which ended up working out just fine! None of us had any doubts after about the third or fourth date. When I moved to Nashville, I tearfully told Jamie he better stick around. He said he was planning to. And in August, he made good on his word and popped the question to Jennie a top the Kennedy Center in their beloved DC. They called me and told me the big news, and after Jennie and I had our girly squeals and excitement, Jamie took the phone and said some very kind words about how much he was looking forward to having me become his only sister and joining the family (although now I bet he thinks he bit off more than he could chew). I told him the feeling was mutual and that I was so happy.
I enjoyed getting to know him more and more at all the wedding parties, holidays, and of course, the time at which you learn the most about any person: his rehearsal dinner. The words that these other respected and educated men had to say about their friend Jamie made everyone in the room cry like a pack of infants. My goodness. Those speeches are supposed to be warm and fuzzy but the ones about Jamie were just inspiring. I left The Club ready to change the world (after the wedding, of course).
I see new ways that Jamie is just perfect for my sister every time I am around him. He is smart, respected, funny, patient and most importantly - loves Jennie with his whole heart. I love that he is just as enamored by all things Kennedy as she is, and I love that they share so many of the same passions and dreams (which is why they are living in DC right now). And the ones that they don't share, they encourage and accommodate. She puts up with baseball; he puts up with Broadway. When they started dating again, I was in a rough place in life, and they truly gave me hope that there is someone out there for everyone just when I was starting to abandon the theory (yes, at the old, old age of 22 - so sad).
Happy birthday, Brother! I am so glad you are in my family. Thanks for being such a kind friend as well as brother-in-law. I know my sister is always in great care as long as you're by her side. Thanks for all the ways you have blessed our family. I look forward to many more happy, happy times as family and as friends. Love you!