A Hero Among Us

We had a very special dinner guest last week, my brother Alejandro. I won't do too much in the way of an intro as the video below pretty much covers it. I offer you "From a Hero's Lips."*

An odd epilogue (or really prologue) that I didn't get on video is my brother re-telling a story from a couple of years ago. He used to work security at a television station out in Arizona. He became buddies with one of the helicopter pilots. My brother befriends everyone-- he's the most friendly and personable of the Perez clan. And the most talkative... he makes me seem quiet and reserved. I could dedicate one whole year of posts to his stories. There was the one involving time in the L.A. County Jail and the one where he (shirtless) carried his 300 lb. friend down a flight of stairs after the friend nearly fell completely through a glass roof. Or the one about driving cross country with a guy from Craigslist who had a trunk of duffel bags and only wanted my brother to drive... hmm, I wonder why.

Anyhow, where was I... OK so he's friends with the Chopper 5 Eye in The Sky guy and the guy keeps telling Alejandro that he'll take him up for a ride one day. They finally settle on a day but just before they're about to go up, Alejandro gets bumped because there's some breaking news that needs coverage. My brother dodged a bullet.

* Though I tried my best to mirror the style of the Frost/Nixon interviews, I must admit I fell short in a couple of areas. Please excuse the crappy quality of the video, the shaky hand, and my incessant cackling and interrupting.