I was 7 and he was 10. Mom and Dad were out for the evening. It was a summer night in our suburban house south of Denver and the two of us were running around doing what boys generally do. As he stepped outside the front doorway, a flash of instantaneous revenge kicked in. When you are the younger sibling, you only get so many chances to exert dominance and provide a little bit of payback. This was one of them.

The door quickly closed behind him. The deadbolt latched while a grin of sheer accomplishment must have exuded from my face. Little brother was in control now. I saw which way he ran to find the next unlocked door or window and pursued in order to keep my upper hand in the situation. A few minutes passed and every entrance to my castle was secure.

Now that I controlled the castle walls, I also controlled the remote. It was my time, now. I sat down, turned on the Nickelodeon, and enjoyed the lugie free, swirlie free evening.

A few minutes passed and the sound of something banging against the window interrupted my bliss. Did he order the archers to attack my castle? Was he ordering the catapults to take aim? I glanced over to see that the noise was coming from a rope hanging from the roof outside of the second story window. Would he repel? Could he? "Crap," I thought to myself as I recalled the dangerously simple accessibility of jumping onto the roof from an adjacent boulder in the back yard. "He would."

Kyle has shown me time after time that there is never an obstacle that cannot be overcome. I have learned that you never challenge Kyle to do something that should not be done. I have discovered that once he has made a checklist, there is nothing that can stop its completion. I know that he will push the envelope even if it doesn't need to be pushed. These are the qualities of a highly driven and ultimately highly accomplished individual. I think that I may have known very early on that this adventure of climbing Everest was inevitable.

Godspeed, Kyle.

(I may or may not end up telling you how the story ended...)