Thank The Ones Closest to You
Do you ever realize that you spend more time developing friendships outside of your family? Do you take these primary members/siblings for granted? Or only raise them to iconic status after they’ve passed away? This was something I was doing; unaware of it – till now.
Why now?
Well, I was trying to think of a thank you gift for my brother, and felt stymied because nothing seemed good enough. Nothing could match the kindnesses received from him recently.
You see, we live 3000 miles apart for 6 months of every year – and an even greater distance when he flies off to Asia for the rest of the year. So, when I visited him two weeks ago, I wasn’t sure what to expect: we don’t spend much time together; seldom talk on the phone; email is sporadic and our lives are very different. Yet, we are the only ones left in our primary family – and that is significant. After Mom and Dad passed away, and our “big brother” died too young, well, we are the bond of family. Or not.
I can write about our brother, Jack, because he’s gone, and we both loved him; his wildness, his foibles are heightened, laughed at; not derisively, but proudly.
So, my other brother is still here. And occasionally he has joked, “So, do you have to die to get written about?”
Good point.
Do any of us actually pay much public tribute to those in our family? Or do we only speak our testimonials in eulogies at their funerals?
What a shame!
So, I want to publicly thank my “little” brother for all of his kindness, his generosity, his gifts, his patience while trying (vainly) to each his technophobic sister computer skills – and then giving her a fully loaded notebook. For driving me here and there throughout Toronto, for his delicious meals, and for also making more room in his home for my son and his two daughters. I am grateful. And I wanted him to know this.
So, thank you Don!
P.S. Do you have a little bro? Have you thanked him recently?
Hey, that’s one way of writing up a storm, isn’t it? Give it a try.