Mario – Portrait Photography, Toronto, Durham Region, Canada, Engagement Session

So…I have a secret, well, it’s not really a secret, as much as I just didn’t mention it yet in my posts.  Mario is my big brother! Yes, that handsome guy in my last post, is my big brother.  He probably doesn’t know it, but he’s one of my greatest heroes.  Ya, ya, I’m about to get all mushy up in your face, so if mush isn’t your thing, stop reading now.  But really, every once in a while, it’s nice to hand out a little mush where deserved. 

Mario did alot for us in the name of “big brotherhood”.  He was always the one to give up his cookie or candy or desert, so me and my other brother could have one and not cry ourselves to sleep cause there was only two left, but three of us kids to share it.  When we walked to school, he had to walk with us to make sure we got there safely, even though I’m sure walking with two kids a few years younger was definitely not seen as “cool”.  When we played “wrestling” in the basement, it was always me and my other brother tag teaming against Mario, (and boy did we kick his BUTT! well…maybe not).   When it was TV watching time, if me or our other brother cried hard enough, we got to watch what we wanted to, and Mario was either stuck watching Charlie’s Angels or Battle of the Planets.    We were supposed to call him “Junior” but somehow we turned it into something that sounded like “Joan” and still does.  When he asked us to stop calling him that we tried our hardest, but it still came out as “Joan”.  Really COOL for him I bet.

He had some crazy ideas and because he was our idol and big brother, we went along with them.   Taking pictures of him in his “inside-out” gold colored-lined trench coat, with his hair up to HERE, doing his Prince moves, cause he was going to be a STAR!  I remember one of his piano recitals and he told my parents that “no”, he was not going to perform Mozart or Bethoven or the likes, instead he was going to perform “Root Beer Rag”.  My parents said “HUH?” and I know most of you just said “huh…what the heck song is that???”  But man he rocked it out.  I miss hearing my brother play piano.  He is one of those people born with a natural talent.  His is playing piano. 

  My brother played that, and it was awesome!  Billy Joel was his piano playing idol, and then he became mine too. 

Anything my brother liked I liked.  It’s how I became a Bruin fan.    I still to this day remember exactly how I became a Bruin fan.  I was about 5 at the time and we as a family were gathered around our TV set.  Montreal was playing Boston.  My parents and my other brother being the Montreal diehard fans that they are, were teasing my brother about being a Bruin fan (I won’t ever fully admit it, but I think Montreal was beating Boston pretty badly at the time!) So, I could still hear Mario cheering on Boston and I remember thinking, I’m not going to let my Big Brother be teased all by himself, so I may have at that moment squeaked out a “Go Boston Go”, not knowing a single darn thing about hockey, cause at the time there was no “Hockey-playing Barbie doll”.  And at that precise moment another hardcore Bruin fan was born, strictly out of defence for my Big Brother!  My brother bit his nails…and sadly, I did too (Thanks for that Big Bro!!) He played piano, and I tried too, but I never got over my fear of performing in front of people. 

So here’s to my big brother, the defender of the little people (me and my other brother, and our toys).  Thanks for always having our backs, and for always being someone we can count on.  🙂

GQing it! I wanted him to wear the gold trench coat…but well I think the 80s called and reclaimed it…

And for something a little different…love it…