Happy Birthday (on Sunday), Dear Ty! Happy Birthday to you!

I'm sure no one who knows Ty will think I'm exaggerating when I say that the world has been a better place because of his presence these last 30 years. He's just an all-around good guy, that brother of mine.

I could easily write a Top 800 list of why Ty is the best brother ever in the history of siblings. But I'll try to keep it to the traditional Top 8. Just know I'm leaving out at least 792 reasons.

1.) He is kind to animals, children, and old people. Even when they don't deserve it.

2.) He hates lying and is incapable of being untruthful. But he's kind when he tells you the truth.

3.) He's passionate about things that we really need people to be passionate about, like loving the Lord, learning new things, doing what's right, and having integrity. Oh, and dead languages and Sci-Fi nerdy stuff.

4.) He bakes blue-ribbon winning pumpkin pies. With REAL whipped cream.

5.) He is generous with his time, his talents, his wisdom, and his love. Which means he hasn't finished his thesis yet, but he sure has helped a lot of people.

6.) He hates onions even more than I do, and therefore never subjects me to the nasty things when he cooks dinner every night. Oh, and did I mention that he cooks a yummy dinner for Steve and me pretty much every night. (That's right, we have our own personal chef. And chauffeur, butler, carpenter, electrician, computer technician, housekeeper, errand boy, counselor, and tutor--to name a few. And he works for room and board. Don't you wish you were us?)

7.) He has an over-active sense of justice. If he was ever granted three wishes, I'm betting one of them would be to rid the world of bullies. That's an admirable goal, right there.

8.) All of those things (and the 792 I didn't mention), and the fact that he's still a kid at heart, mean he's going to be the best uncle a little guy ever had. TANK doesn't even know how lucky he is.

Have a happy birthday, Boy. And many more.