REMEMBERING MY BROTHER -SMILING THROUGH THE HEARTACHE

Six years  ago this week

my brother, Charlie,

walked into the hospital ER

because he wasn't feeling well.

On February 5th,  2013,

 4:04 pm he left the hospital.

He didn't leave the way we hoped,

nor the way we expected.

He went to a different home

than the one he left that last Tuesday.

He developed a very rare cancer

that affects less than 1% of

cancer patients.  It is fast moving

and there is less than a 1% chance

of survival.

I  struggled trying to figure

out why this has happened.

Then a peaceful thought came to me.

Our little granddaughter,

Anna Bella,  who would be THIRTEEN now,

needed an Uncle

to keep her company.

A great-uncle.

Great in more ways than one.

Wasn't he a cute little boy?

We knew that last morning that his

time to be with us was to be

short-lived.

They put him on a morphine drip

and he gently drifted away

without pain.

What you don't know about

my brother is that he was a 

joker-He loved to make

people laugh.

He was the "smiliest" person

I ever knew and he

dearly loved a good joke.

You know, even in moments of 

blinding pain there are

sparks of laughter,

After we said our good-byes and 

gave him permission to go "home",

we were all sobbing.

I told him: "You are so, so loved here

and Mom & Dad

and our grandparents and 

uncles and cousins and family

are all waiting for you-waiting to

welcome you to Heaven".

My sister-in-law added...

"And Snow White".

What? I asked.

Maybe you read a different

Bible than I do cuz I don't

think Snow White is in Heaven.

Everyone in the room erupted

in laughter.

In the burst of laughter

my brother, Charlie,

took his last breath of

life on this Earth.

We knew then that he 

was free to go because

in spite of our sadness

there was one last smile for him.

I'm betting that right now,

up in Heaven,

he is setting our little Anna Bella

up to some mischief

just like  I my father used to 

set him up.

He passed so-so peacefully,

with nary a complaint.

You did good, Charlie,

very, very good.

Now I feel like I have a 

GUARDIAN ANGEL

that watches over me.

As a family, we have moved on,

walking different paths than the ones 

we were on and that is okay.

Happy memories keep us company

on those days when we mourn

our earthly loss.

Take a moment today to 

tell someone you love them.

If there are rifts in your family,

mend them while you have time

for tomorrow is never guaranteed

and there are no "do-overs"

when death comes to visit.

Have a wonderful, blessed day.

I hope YOU have a 

GUARDIAN ANGEL

in your life!

ps.  Snow White?  She was Charlie's cat.