Been away for a few days, but see that you fellows have been busy. I lost my older brother last week, after a long illness. When reflecting back over his illness, I see that we still have a long way to go in the arena of good medicines.
If I may digress for a minute and if you would allow me to write about personal things, I would like to share a comment my brother made shortly before his death and when a friend asked him how he felt. His response was.."If someone would help me to the lower limb, I think I could climb a tree." On the surface this might sound like a corny and irrelevant comment, but to me it had a deep meaning that I think might apply to many of us...at least to myself.
Often I think we speed through life and never think about tomorrow. My brother wasn't an educated man, but one who had worked all his life with his hands. He often introduced me to his friends as his "book-smart" brother, but I'm here to tell you that he was the "smart one".
My point in all of this is to tell you that about 500 people attended his funeral...friends of his. As this relates to myself, I can't even tell you the names of the people that live on my street. I do know that a fellow name Scott lives next door, but I don't know what his wife's name is, nor do I know their last name.
For many of us, especially myself, we bicker here about why a certain stock isn't being talked about and therefore questioning a posters motives for not doing such. When we should be asking our friends and neighbors...."Could I help you reach a lower limb on the tree of life?"
I apologize for this melodramatic message, but my brother was my hero in life. When our father died at an early age, he dropped out of school to keep our family together. His sacrifice allowed me to get an education, travel the world, and live the "good life", while he stayed back in our rural community and toiled for wages that I might make in a day in the stock market, but he would have to work for a year for the same.
Last Thursday morning, someone helped him to the lower limb and he climbed to a better place...a place where at least he doesn't have to suffer anymore. |
