Paddy

Oh Paddy.  You were the easiest.  
To make fun of that is.  You just made it so darn, well...easy.  You were the easiest to gross out at the dinner table.
Random older sibling comment during dinner:
"Hey, look at this piece of chicken fat, it looks like snot."
Little blonde Paddy makes a dash for the bathroom, intent on kneeling before the porcelain god.
Us older siblings laugh despite dark looks of admonishment from the parent-types. 
Or:
"Hey look, this steak we're eating came from the cows out in that pasture...it's kind of weird that you can see them while you're eating them."
Little blonde Paddy of the weak stomach once again made a beeline for the facilities.  Poor kid.
Before you feel really bad for the little blonde tyke, let me just say that us older siblings grew a heart rather quickly where Paddy was concerned.  Because it was just so darn pathetic how easy it was to make him want to throw up.  And really who likes to hear puking while you're trying to eat (and who puts a bathroom that close to the dining room anyway)?  It's just gross.  Enough to turn your stomach even.  So we stopped making gross comparisons about our food during dinner.  Out loud anyway.  But every once in a while we'd pop one out there just to see if he was still weak-stomached.
Now that we're all much older and wiser I must say--even though Paddy hasn't exactly said it--he should be grateful for the the random bits of mealtime terror.  All those chances to practice his running skills.
Because now he's a stud. 
And by stud I mean that for the last five years--despite a few knee surgeries--he has been competing as a decathlete at the NAIA college level.
Decathletes are the studs of track and field teams.  They do 10 events in 2 days.  Most people do four.  He does: pole vault, high jump, long jump, javelin, shot put, discus, the 100, 400, 1500, and the high hurdles.  See?  Total stud.

I've never known anyone in my entire life who has worked harder or been more disciplined than Paddy when it comes to achieving a goal.  I'm so stinking proud of him. 
And this year he was the Cascade Conference Decathlon Champion, set a new record, and qualified and competed at Nationals in Indiana.  
Not bad for a little blonde farm kid with a weak stomach.