My big brother, Joe Pacheco (named after our dad) will be 80 years old this Sunday. He has gray hair now and looks a little older than he does on this card, mainly because I made it soon after I started SoulCollaging in 2005, and 21 years has made a difference in how we both look!

Joe is ten years older than me, so we weren’t close until I was an adult.  But when I was in my early teens, he always took the time to do things with me.  The biggest thing he ever did for me was introduce me to the theatre.  When I was twelve years old, he and his wife Karen took me to see a production of Man of La Mancha at the University of Connecticut, and I fell in love immediately with everything about theatre.

In his career years, Joe was a middle school English teacher, a photographer/film maker, and a media coordinator for an entire school system, and one of this biggest passions is reading.  I believe I have captured the essence of my big brother and my relationship with him here on this SoulCollage^® card, which honors him in my deck.

Who are you? I am the one who is your big brother.  I am the one who took you places when you were little and who introduced you to the theatre.  I am the one who loves taking pictures and filming documentaries, who loves books. I am the one who is kind and thoughtful and helpful to others. I am the one who looks out for what the people around me need and am able to give it to them. I am the one who is older now and I am the one who still loves you unconditionally.

What do you have to give me? I give you a special bond, a special brother-sister relationship.  I give you curiosity and validation and unconditional love.  I give you my love of theatre. I give you a shared history and a love of reading and writing. I give you a sense of family and support in whatever you undertake.