" IS YOUR BROTHER OLDER OR YOUNGER THAN YOU "?

MIKE KEEPS FORGETTING THAT I HAVE AN OLDER BROTHER.  HE ASKED ME THE ABOVE QUESTION THIS MORNING AFTER I TOLD HIM MY BROTHER HAD SENT ME AN E-MAIL.  THEN HE WANTS TO KNOW IF HE HAS EVER BEEN HERE BEFORE. I ONCE AGAIN EXPLAIN THAT HE WAS FROM MY FATHER'S FIRST MARRIAGE, AND THAT I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT HIM TILL AFTER MY FATHER DIED.  THAT OPENS UP A WHOLE NEW SET OF QUESTIONS FROM MIKE.  "HOW DID YOUR FATHER DIE"?  "HOW OLD WAS HE WHEN HE DIED"?  "WHAT DID HE DIE FROM", AND SO ON.  NOW I HAVE TO GO TO THAT PAINFUL PLACE AGAIN AND EXPLAIN THAT MY FATHER COMMITTED SUICIDE.  ACTUALLY IT WAS MY HUSBAND MIKE AND MY BROTHER IN LAW GEORGE WHO CLEANED UP HIS PLACE AFTER WARDS, I DON'T REALLY KNOW THAT I COULD HAVE DONE THAT, SO I AM REALLY GRATEFUL THAT HE WAS WITH ME THAT MORNING.  ANYHOW, I DIGRESS.  I SHOW MIKE THE PICTURE ON THE WALL, AND REMIND HIM THAT WE TOOK THAT PICTURE OF MY BROTHER AND HIS WIFE BARBRA ON THEIR LAST TRIP HERE.   I LOOK AT THAT PICTURE EVERY DAY, AND AM AMAZED AT HOW MUCH THINGS HAVE CHANGED AROUND HERE IN THAT SHORT SPAN OF TIME.  MY BROTHER IN LAW GEORGE (MY SISTER VICKIE'S HUSBAND) IS NOW GONE-DIED OF ALZHEIMER'S, ALS, CANCER, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE.  HE SURE DID GET A TRIPLE WHAMMY IN HIS LATER YEARS. HE WAS SO BLESSED TO HAVE MY SISTER TO CARE FOR HIM.  I WONDER IF HE EVER REALLY APPRECIATED HER AS THE REST OF US DID.   THEN THERE IS MY DEAR HUSBAND MIKE.  HE DID NOT SEEM TO HAVE MANY DISCERNIBLE SIGNS OF ALZHEIMER'S BACK THEN, AND NOW HE IS IN THE ADVANCED STAGES OF THE DISEASE!!!  IT JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU THAT EACH DAY IS A GIFT, AND THAT WE SHOULD NOT LIVE EITHER IN THE PAST OR THE FUTURE, BUT TRY AND ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF TODAY AS LONG AS WE CAN.  TILL TOMORROW-JUST ME