On the eve of the anniversary of you being ten years gone, I am cooking with you in our kitchen as though you were here. I'm making something you would like ~ shrimp curry with vegetables and rice. I'm also having a few beers. I'm drinking mine, and I'm drinking yours.
I have learned through these years that I can still talk to you, write to you, that you will always be there for me, with me.
Your life taught me to live more boldly, to follow my dreams, to get people together, to celebrate more, to look to the sky, to gaze at the stars.
You are my brother so of course, I learned all these things from my mom and dad. We ~ you, me and our sis, learned them together as we grew up in the same household.
One of my first memories was when you came home from the hospital with Mom and Dad. Grandma was taking care of Nancy and me. She was four and I was two and a half, but the excitement and joy we felt still come to me to this day. I can also remember a family gathering when you turned one. There was a thick dark green candle that we stuck in the cake to celebrate your first year on Earth.
I learned from your example as an uncle. You were always there at every party, holding the baby, talking to the kids.
You and Vicki taught me and Ron about loving relationships. Yours was solid and seemingly void of bickering and bitchiness, at least from the outside.
You taught me about following my dreams. Yours differed from mine, but in the end, you showed me respect and admiration for my work. You were curious about what I knew and could teach you.
I remember being at your home in January 2018 and feeling such a deep love for you and the beautiful man you had become and so proud that you were my brother. You were also becoming much more of a friend in addition to a brother on this journey called life.
Just a couple months before the accident, you took us all on a flight at the pond where the swans hung out. One by one you took the kids and then me in your seaplane, flying through the canyons and laughing maniacally at the thrill of it.
