Thomas James Tripp Jr.

My little - yet has always been bigger than me - brother is graduating from college this weekend! I will be traveling up to EWU for his graduation festivities and I couldn't be more proud and excited to be there for him as he walks across the stage and finishes what I think has been a very impressive few years for him.

He is majoring in Finance, Business Management, Human Resource Management and getting a minor in Economics...all things I wanted nothing to do with in college :) I think this is phenomenal, considering he didn't quite know what to think of college when he first got there. He always had a plan to major in business, with an interest in possibly moving back to Colville to work in the family business someday. However, lately I think his plans have changed...at least for now. For the past few years he has talked about moving to California or somewhere else and experiencing something new. Cheney isn't far from Colville and I think he would like to see what it is like to find a place that he can call "his own". I understand that desire, as it was something I was looking for right out of high school also. I wanted to go somewhere where people didn't necessarily know me or associate me as being just an athlete or know everything their was to know about me - which can easily happen in a small town. Sometimes we just need a little time away from that to realize that someday we could see ourselves back there again.

TJ is a funny, caring, talented, handsome, sensitive, stubborn :), detail oriented and smart young man and I hope that he will find whatever it is that he is looking for. We got along pretty well growing up together (let's just say that we were pretty close in age and both very competitive...I don't think we really ever finished a game of basketball) and we have always been very close. I want him to know that Ryan and I will always be there for him. My family is so important to me and even though I don't get to see them as often as I would like, sometimes that is the fun part for me because I notice the ways in which everyone has changed. Not big changes, but little changes. TJ has made a lot of little changes in his life in the past few years and I am very proud of the man he is becoming. Yes Bud, I called you a man...but don't think that means you have bigger muscles than me now :) I love you.