April 8th has come along now 14 times since my oldest brother passed away from a heart attack. It seems strange now that I am more than a decade older than the last time I saw him but what is still as fresh as snow in my mind is my brother's smile. As we got older in life we got closer. We had our moments growing up but he was 3 1/2 years older than me so initially we didn't run in the same circles. But as we both grew older we found that we could help each other at times and those were the best memories for me. When I was struggling with alcohol and trying to change my life Jim was there to not only encourage me but to make life easier for me in the little things.
His unselfishness of time when he could have been spending more with his immediate family exemplifies his compassion and his determination to help push me into a better way of life. Jim reminds me that it isn't about just ourselves like so many think. It is about giving of oneself when the time for giving is needed. Since that time I have turned my life around and have my big brother Jim as one of a few to thank. I miss him and his passion for life. Why some of us can go on and others can't will always trouble me about life, yet I wouldn't have gotten here without Jim making some sacrifices for me. An oldest brother taking care of one of his younger ones. I guess we siblings got that from our mother who is still the mother hen of all the chickens.
Jimmy set the path for all of us younger children to see how to live and grow in life and for that he will always have a cherished place in my heart. Not all of us siblings have the heart of our mother but my brother Jim did. He also was a curious George in that he wanted to know many things which is what happened to me as well. If Jim could have been a scientist no doubt he would have been a happy man but like many young men from our generation the idea of marriage and children hit him in his teens and he moved onto to be a family man and provider. Again setting the example of what love and respect in a relationship looks like for the rest of us younger boys. Happy Birthday Jimmy (66) and thanks again for always being my oldest brother in life and now in death.
His unselfishness of time when he could have been spending more with his immediate family exemplifies his compassion and his determination to help push me into a better way of life. Jim reminds me that it isn't about just ourselves like so many think. It is about giving of oneself when the time for giving is needed. Since that time I have turned my life around and have my big brother Jim as one of a few to thank. I miss him and his passion for life. Why some of us can go on and others can't will always trouble me about life, yet I wouldn't have gotten here without Jim making some sacrifices for me. An oldest brother taking care of one of his younger ones. I guess we siblings got that from our mother who is still the mother hen of all the chickens.
Jimmy set the path for all of us younger children to see how to live and grow in life and for that he will always have a cherished place in my heart. Not all of us siblings have the heart of our mother but my brother Jim did. He also was a curious George in that he wanted to know many things which is what happened to me as well. If Jim could have been a scientist no doubt he would have been a happy man but like many young men from our generation the idea of marriage and children hit him in his teens and he moved onto to be a family man and provider. Again setting the example of what love and respect in a relationship looks like for the rest of us younger boys. Happy Birthday Jimmy (66) and thanks again for always being my oldest brother in life and now in death.
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