For me, it was on my cell phone while I was shopping at Kohls. My sister-in-law told me of the death of my brother. It seemed like the whole world started spinning in slow motion, I could not believe the news. “He died this morning from a heart attack” she said. I stopped listening sometime after that and I slowly handed my phone over to my wife. At that point, the problems I had, seemed small and insignificant.

My mind raced to when we were kids, the teasing and torture that an older brother, I am the youngest, inflicts to a younger brother. To the time I called him on autovon because of some girl problem that I had. To that summer in ’79 when my oldest brother and I drove down to Clovis New Mexico to see him. It was the first time I drove a stick.

I spoke with my remaining brother this evening, he has had his own struggles as his daughter was killed in a car accident. We talked about how each were feeling, sharing our memories of our brother. tallking about how the other members fo the family were doing…

Both of us shocked, at the words we don’t want to hear.