Memories like today

Yesterday was my brother’s birthday. He would have been sixty-six. He passed away from Multiple System Atrophy when he was fifty-nine. It seems like today, not seven years ago. I can still remember so many of the people that showed such compassion and support here at WordPress. I am pretty sure I had over fifteen hundred comments in one day.

It didn’t make me cry this year but the memories came flooding back. Us going out to eat and how excited he was to choose from the menu. He didn’t eat out much before I started taking care of him, so some things we did were new to him although when I began being his guardian, he was fifty-two. My brother was mentally challenged and he didn’t experience so many things that you and I take for granted.

I remember taking him to different antique stores. His eyes would light up like Christmas lights. He would search for anything that had the words Coco-Cola on it. He was obsessed with this category. He didn’t care if he had several at home, when he saw something like it, he wanted another. I would talk to him and gently sway his thinking to getting an item that he didn’t already own.

He loved vintage cars too. My youngest son had a Chevy Bellaire and so he wanted one too. I found one in a large die cast and bought it for him. He had several vintage car collections by the time he became ill and the blue Chevy Bellaire was his ultimate favorite.

My brother loved the life that he and I built. i think each day for him was brand new. I always wished I had that innocence about life like he did, almost as a child.

I miss my brother so much. I loved sharing life with him. I learned so much about him and even about myself. Watching his face glow and his big smile is what I miss so much. I was never lonely when he and I lived together, even when he was plastered to the TV sports shows.

I love you buddy. You are always in my heart. I will never live the experiences of what you taught me ever again. Until we see each other again.