My Brother Is a Good Man

Sunday January 10, 1993

I awake feeling better. My chest doesn't hurt but I feel nauseous. I go down for a pancake breakfast. I don't really enjoy it but it fills my empty belly. I lay in bed all morning. Can't think of a reason to get up. Finally, I'm up, showered and made up by 1 p.m. I eat a hard boiled egg. That tastes good. I eat another. Later a cookie and banana. At 5 a.m. I ate a cup of yogurt.

I call Gary at 4:45. We go over to visit awhile. Frank helps them prune some rose bushes. We come home and order pizza. I manage to eat one piece. I still feel pretty good. I eat some ice cream later and go to bed at 11 p.m.

I met a women at church a few weeks ago and we had a nice personal chat. I told her about Mom and how I regretted not spending more time with her those last two years when she was sick. She told me when her sister got sick two years ago with cancer, she quit her job, moved to Missouri to be with her sister, and took care of her until she passed away. In January 1993 I was on maternity leave with my 6 month old son Derek. What would my life have been like if I had dropped everything to be with Mom in Simi Valley? Would I have been able to extend my leave or find another job? Would Mom have even wanted me to come down? Perhaps if I had known she would be gone in a few months this would have been the time to go down to be with her. Because she was always so upbeat and confident that she would beat the cancer, I believed her, and never thought it would take her away from me.

In spite of the fact that I lived 400 miles away, my brother Gary lived just 3 miles away in Simi Valley. He is such a kind man, a generous man, and very easy-going. I'm so glad Mom lived close to him so they could spend time together. We just visited Gary and Maria at their home a few weeks ago when we went down for a family wedding in Pasadena. I had not seen my brother for 6 months and had not been to their home for 5 years. The photo above was taken July 20, 2013 at the wedding which took place in my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Gene's backyard, as so many other weddings and celebrations have. The wedding was so fun and beautiful, but I especially enjoyed spending time with my brother and his wonderful wife Maria. I promise Gary to come down more often! Time passes so quickly, our children grow up, get married, move on. I read an article recently in Parade magazine about siblings. It talked about how important it is to be close with our siblings, for we share a longer history with them in our lifetime than another other person on earth. I'm so lucky my brother is a good and kind man!