both alike in dignity

Today I received the invitation to my brother's wedding so I guess it's officially official. He lives in England and the wedding is in Arizona so I've missed all of the usual pre-wedding chaos. For me, it began today. I had to chuckle a little as I read the invitation. It was about this time last year that I received another invitation to my other brother's wedding and two less-similar invites would be hard to imagine.

My brothers are eight years apart but they are getting married only a year apart, almost exactly. If you saw photographs of my brothers when they both had short hair you'd see an unmistakable family resemblence. But beyond that they are so very different. Mark is competative, Dave is communal. Mark is at home in a crowd, Dave is at home playing life-sized Monopoly. They are both artistic, both smart, both funny, both more private that you might guess at first glance.

Dave & Janie's invites were orange and covered in Dave's own artwork, a collage of angels and faces. Mark and Rachel's are classic and traditional. Vellum over a photograph tied with a white ribbon. In some ways my brothers are a lot like their invitations, the same idea expressed two completely different ways. Reminds me of the opening to Romeo and Juliet --'two houses, both alike in dignity.'

And where do I fit between these two? Hard to say. I am more focussed than Dave but less brave, less up front than Mark but better able to relate. I always wished I had a sister to balance things out. Now I have Janie and Rachel. And for a while at least, we've got the guys outnumbered :)