A Very Proud Big Sister

Today at 11:45am, 24 football recruits returned signed letters of intent to ASU. Among these young men was my little godbrother, Ramon Abreu. On azcentral.com they wrote a small article and posted a few pictures of this event. After reading the article and viewing the photos I feel myself start to get a little teary eyed. A flood of memories wash over me and I find myself thinking about the many childhood adventures Ramon and I had. Rollerblading and playing hockey in the tennis courts, riding our bikes and getting into whatever mischief we could find, and chugging Capri Suns on the steps during hot summer afternoons, whatever we did, we did it together. Even as a kid, Ramon was always the best at sports. From football, baseball, basketball, you name it, he did it and he did it well. In my eyes, there was nothing Ramon couldn’t do. He was always the fastest, the toughest, and the best. Growing up together taught me a lot of things and even when we would get into our meaningless squabbles, we always made up in about an hour and would find some other fun/trouble to get into.

I never realized how protective I was of my little brother till we got to high school. This is when I started seeing all the little girls around him and he would have an occasional girlfriend here and there. I don’t think I have scared so many girls in my life. If they were around my brother, it was on. Even at our high school dances I would find myself shooing away girls that would dance all on him. Yeah, that was NOT happening while I was around. I know he hated me for it and thought I was overreacting, but in the end we both knew it was out of love and we would both get over it and have a laugh the next day in school.

Today, Ramon is a senior at Marcos de Niza high school and will be at ASU in Fall 2010 playing football as a Sun Devil. I cannot wait for next semester to be in those stands cheering on my little bro. As I look back on our childhood I can’t help but smile and feel a swell of pride for my brother. I have watched him grow from a carefree kid to an amazing young man. We may not be blood related, but in our eyes we have always been siblings and he will always be my little brother. Ramon, I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments. I wish nothing but the best for you and your future. Always remember you have a big sister that will love and protect you no matter what and always support you in whatever you do. I love you Ramon.


Lonni Summers