If my youngest brother were alive, he'd be 57 today.
He died five or six years ago, or is it seven? Why can't I ever remember when? Is it because I still struggle with the fact that he's gone?
I only recently erased his name from my contacts. Did that signify I was erasing him from my heart and mind?
He and I were raised together. My oldest brother Willie is 14 years older than me, and Forrest is 10 years older, but Terry was just a year older. We couldn't have been more different. I did well in school, while he struggled most years. I was the bookworm, where he would be outside playing or watching TV. I don't ever remember doing anything together as kids, but we must have.
Funny the things you remember.
After high school, my Mom insisted that he go into the military, following in Willie's footsteps. The four years that he was active duty was a blossoming/coming of age time for him. He became the confident, outspoken one in the family.
While he was in the military, I was in college. In my last year at FAMU (Florida A & M University), he had completed his tour of duty and entered college as a freshman. We lived together and it was the best of times and the worst of times. We continued to argue like cats and dogs, but when we weren't verbally sparring, we had great times together. I will never forget that it was he who introduced me to cauliflower. In his travels in the military, his culinary tastes had broaden, and he in turn broaden mine.
As time went on, I got married and so did he, in fact, a couple of times for him. He settled into life continuing to work, but not being fulfilled. He announced that he was quitting his job and going back to school, focusing on computer programming. We thought he was nuts. What we didn't know, and couldn't see, was that this was his niche. This is where he excelled. He worked at Microsoft for years, and when he died, he was working for Boeing.
His life is a testimony to living your dream. He knew that his heart wasn't in the job he had, and he continued to search until he found that thing, that job that he was passionate about. Remember, he struggled in school, but there is no doubt, he was the brightest of Momma's kids.
He found his niche.
I wish we hadn't spent so much time arguing - about what? - and spent more time just enjoying each other. Thankfully, that happened the last decade or so that he was alive. Better late than never, right?
Death happens. Sometime we can see it coming, and other times, like with Terry, we can't. It is these surprise deaths that rattle us, and shakes us to the core.
I erased his name from my contact list, but I can never erase him from my heart.
Happy birthday Terry.
He died five or six years ago, or is it seven? Why can't I ever remember when? Is it because I still struggle with the fact that he's gone?
I only recently erased his name from my contacts. Did that signify I was erasing him from my heart and mind?
He and I were raised together. My oldest brother Willie is 14 years older than me, and Forrest is 10 years older, but Terry was just a year older. We couldn't have been more different. I did well in school, while he struggled most years. I was the bookworm, where he would be outside playing or watching TV. I don't ever remember doing anything together as kids, but we must have.
Funny the things you remember.
After high school, my Mom insisted that he go into the military, following in Willie's footsteps. The four years that he was active duty was a blossoming/coming of age time for him. He became the confident, outspoken one in the family.
While he was in the military, I was in college. In my last year at FAMU (Florida A & M University), he had completed his tour of duty and entered college as a freshman. We lived together and it was the best of times and the worst of times. We continued to argue like cats and dogs, but when we weren't verbally sparring, we had great times together. I will never forget that it was he who introduced me to cauliflower. In his travels in the military, his culinary tastes had broaden, and he in turn broaden mine.
As time went on, I got married and so did he, in fact, a couple of times for him. He settled into life continuing to work, but not being fulfilled. He announced that he was quitting his job and going back to school, focusing on computer programming. We thought he was nuts. What we didn't know, and couldn't see, was that this was his niche. This is where he excelled. He worked at Microsoft for years, and when he died, he was working for Boeing.
His life is a testimony to living your dream. He knew that his heart wasn't in the job he had, and he continued to search until he found that thing, that job that he was passionate about. Remember, he struggled in school, but there is no doubt, he was the brightest of Momma's kids.
He found his niche.
I wish we hadn't spent so much time arguing - about what? - and spent more time just enjoying each other. Thankfully, that happened the last decade or so that he was alive. Better late than never, right?
Death happens. Sometime we can see it coming, and other times, like with Terry, we can't. It is these surprise deaths that rattle us, and shakes us to the core.
I erased his name from my contact list, but I can never erase him from my heart.
Happy birthday Terry.
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