I’m the baby brother. It’s a position of consolation and condescension. Becoming a father has kind of turned this on its head, though. “Child is the father of the man,” and whatnot.

This is a song wrestling with and from that position, reflecting on difficult seasons for myself and my family. It’s a sunny song, but it casts some shadows.

Regarding the photo: no, it’s not me or a baby brother — at least not mine. I clipped it from the San Antonio Express News sometime in 2021, and it’s graced the cover of a notebook since then. I can’t find the story online. Something about fishing in the San Antonio River. Good memories, unless you’re the fish, but even he lived to see another day, I’m sure. Sometimes you’re the fisher, sometimes you’re the fish, I guess.