Everyone needs a younger brother. Well, honestly, everyone
needs an older sister who is as awesome as I am, but that’s already obvious J
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| The early years |
I say that everyone needs a younger brother because as you
all know, I have one. And he’s pretty amazing. In addition to his fantastic
orange hair, he has a humorous personality, a kind heart, an athletic body and
the motivation to follow, and now achieve, his dream. It hasn’t always been
easy, but he stuck with it, and it has paid off.
Tom has always been the athletic child of the family.
Whatever sport he tried, he excelled. I don’t think there was one sport that he
didn’t try and succeed (yes, he even tried figure skating and yes, he was
pretty good). However, hockey has always been his #1 passion. My dad would take
Tom and I to ‘skate with the Falcons’ at the Air Force Academy and Tom would
skate around collecting signatures with a huge smile on his face (while I, at
the adorable age of 10 and 11- years old, tried to act mature enough to catch
an eye of those handsome 18 year-old college hockey players). Growing up, we
had season tickets to Colorado College hockey and Air Force hockey. Tom was
friends with the Colorado College coach’s son and got to help out during some
practices and games. So, hockey has been a part of our lives since our family
moved to Colorado in the early 90’s.
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| My best man |
When Tom started his job as a hockey referee, I thought it
was just a high school job. He continued with this job in college, while
playing club hockey for Colorado State University. When he was told of his
potential with the refereeing world, he said he would do whatever it would take
to keep moving up the ranks. After college, he began that journey. I never knew
the sacrifice and dedication that it takes to live the life of a hockey
referee. While Tom may have lived in an apartment for his first few years
employed with USA Hockey, he could never really call one place ‘home.’ He would
live with 2 or 3 other guys in a small apartment and would consistently be on
the road during the weekends and sometimes during the week. In order to get to
the city that he was working in, he would have to drive. Some weekends, he was
lucky and only had to drive 3 or 4 hours each way. Other weekends, he would
have to referee a game until 9pm, drive 3 hours, spend the night somewhere and
then drive another 5 or 6 hours to get to his next game. Some weekends, he got
the luxury to fly, but that was only because he had a game in Alaska. And while
he was working on the weekends, he would spend the night in a hotel, or another
employee’s apartment. So, on the weekends that he was away, his room could
potentially be occupied by another USA Hockey referee that was doing the same
job as Tom and living the life of a traveler. Since the season is only a few
months long, he would ‘live’ in one place for the hockey season, and then have a
few days to pack up his entire room and head back to Colorado for the summer. A
few months later, he would pack up everything again and head out to his new home.
Exhausting doesn’t even describe what I think he went through.
Fast forward to July 2013 when Tom got the magical phone
call. After a few seasons of hectic travel, long days, minimal pay and cruddy
living conditions, the NHL offered him a contract. He could now live where he
wanted to (with some restrictions), take a plane to the majority of his games,
stay in decent hotels during his travels and finally take that step that leads
to the ‘big dance.’
The past few months have been wonderful to see him be an
adult. Not that he wasn’t one before, but it seems that overnight, I went from
having a 21 year-old brother that lived a crazy, carefree life to a mature 26
year-old brother that is talking about business suits and travel and a responsible
future. This week, my little brother got the joyous news that he will be a
referee in his first NHL game. And you better believe his whole family will be
there cheering him and supporting ‘Team Ref.’
Many people may think that they have the best younger brother. Sorry, you're wrong. My brother is the one with the best 'one-liners.' My brother is the one who played 'communion' with me in the kitchen with bread pieces and Kool-Aid. He is the one who dressed up in my old Homecoming dresses for skits during AirBand. He was the one to start T.C. Tailgate at the high school and attempted to bring back the fanny pack during his senior year. Tom is the one that camped out with me in the backyard in elementary and middle school, built forts with me in the living room and had movie nights on Christmas Eve. During the long summer state swim meets in Grand Junction, he was the one to memorize the turns on the slide and tell me about it after I was done swimming. He has made me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry, and just listened when I needed to talk. So while
everyone should have a big sister, I can honestly say that life with a younger
brother may be one of the best things in this world.
*Everyone should tune in to the NY Islanders vs. Ottawa
Senators hockey game on Tuesday, April 8*
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