Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend ... (PROMPT 27: Talk about your siblings)

Damian and I go way back ... well we go back to Sept. 16, 1993 — the day he was born.

I was five years old, and I was ecstatic that I was going to have a little brother or at least that's what I have been told by my parents.

I do remember asking my parents if we could name him Derek. Why? Well because there was a kid on Barney & Friends (yes, the big purple dinosaur) who I guess I liked.

Evidently, my parents went with the name Damian.

Damian came into my life at perfect timing, because at that point I was an only-child and a spoiled-rotten, bratty little girl. Damian came in like a hurricane, and he was so damn cute — this chubby, chunky little babe.

Growing up with a little brother I traded in my Barbies for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, baseballs and go-karts.

We had a blast growing up together. Of course there were fights — lots and lots of fights. One time Damian tried to get me in trouble with my mom by pretending that I was picking on him and yelling from the living room, "Denise! Stop it! Stop being mean!" My mom was in the bathroom and she started yelling at me to leave Damian alone. I was in my room and told her, "Mom! I'm not even in the same room as him!"

There was the time right after one of his birthdays when
he was given a bunch of toy guns. One was this really cool crossbow that shot rubber bullets. This thing would shoot at like 30 miles per hour. Damian came into our room pulled out the crossbow and shot me in the face at point blank — let's just say it more than hurt. He had to collect all his new toy guns and throw them in the trash as punishment.

One time, I accidentally busted his head open with a baseball bat. Yes, I swear it was an accident. We were outside with our dad and I was up at bat. I was doing a couple of practice swings when Damian walked right behind me at the perfect moment when I let the bat swing behind me and DINK it smacked his little head. A fountain of blood started shooting out of his forehead. Damian stood there repeating "Oh my God!" over and over. I turned around, saw him and freaked out and started running around the entire yard. Dad didn't know who to take care of first — the bleeding kid or the psycho one running around like a maniac.

So yes, we've had our number of adventures and they have continued as we've grown up.

Damian has been my scary movie buddy, where we both end up being scared senseless and end up sleeping in the same bed, he's been the Luigi to my Mario, the Diddy Kong to my Donkey Kong, he's been my roller coaster and theme park bambino ... he's been my best friend since the day he escaped from the womb.

Now that we're both adults and we're both trying to figure out why we wanted to grow up so fast, Damian has become my biggest support system, my shoulder to cry on and my hero.

He has and I know will always have my back. Damian is one of the biggest reasons I still have faith that good men exist, because Damian has become a remarkable man. I've been very blessed by God to have been given a brother like Damian.

And I have been so lucky to have been able to live with Damian as my roommate in Lubbock for about a year and a half. Leaving him in Lubbock was so hard to do ... I miss him everyday. I miss his ridiculous jokes and I miss laying around on our couches quoting movie lines and cracking up at our inside jokes.

I can only hope and pray as the years go by we continue to be close. That we continue to have adventures and continue to be a blessing in each others lives. My constant prayer every day is for God to protect my little brother and make his dreams come true.

And if God has to take one of us from this earth I ask Him to take me first, because I can not imagine or live in a world where Damian does not exist.