AntiM, thank you for sharing this.AntiM wrote:My oldest brother would have been 71 today. Gone 15 years, unbelievable. Fuck cancer.
Now let me share a little praise for you and some hope for your heart. You have kept your oldest brother alive where he will do the most good - in you. In that way, those we love and respect never die, they live on in our memories forever, never to be forgotten. They have affected our lives, and the positive remains - memories of the hugs, the laughter, the sharing, the song. We share not how they died, but how they LIVED, as a less on to US.
I'll share a story of my dear grandmother, who passed away in Ohio while I was in undergraduate school. I couldn't make the funeral, which was right at finals time. Some time the day after I found out, I sat alone on the steps of the library at school, and vowed to do the best I ever could for finals that year in tribute to her. As an additional ad hoc memorial, I decided to keep using my middle initial on my signature always (Grandma wanted me to do that, because my middle name is my father's name - reminds me where I come from, right?). I've used my middle initial ever since.....a tribute to both my father and grandma.
Dad's still alive (85 and counting), and when I talk with him on the phone, the respect, the FAMILY is still there. Mom is still there, too (at age 83). And Grandma may have been buried for 30 years, but she's still alive in my heart.
