David's Daily Diversions

Memory Eternal

About the time I was writing the previous entry about my mother's 70th birthday, my younger brother, my only sibling, passed out of this life and into the next.

I have only today returned from a very unplanned trip to Texas. We received a phone call at 5:00 am on the 1st and it has been a bit of a whirlwind since. I would have recounted the events on this blog, but for some reason it refused to cooperate with my parents' PC.

My brother and I were five years apart and of very different personalities. It would be fair to say that for most of his life we were not particularly close. Since the birth of Aidan, we had become much closer and he was a very affectionate uncle.

I suppose I never expected to bury my brother. The idea hadn't crossed my mind, other than when he had expressed his desire to be buried in Goliad. He had suggested he wanted to be buried standing up with his boots on. His request as to location was met, but as to posture was not. Even when he suggested his place and mode of burial, it was more an expression of his love for the place where we grew up hunting rather than particular interest in the family cemetary plot.

I still remember going with my dad to see him in the hospital nursery soon after his birth. I went with my dad to pick out the exact spot for his grave. In between, I was the best man at his wedding. Even if we weren't close, I was there for the big events. All of them.

It takes a while for it to all sink in.

In the next few days, I'm sure I will blog about various things that happened over the last few weeks. No doubt I will pour out reflections upon life and death and family. There is even humour to be found in the most somber of weeks.

May Dean's memory be eternal!