Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I gave your sister an extra hug today

Gary &  Kim, 2008

It has been three years since your passing,  three years of tears and rejuvenation.
Time goes by so damn fast  when a family member leaves as if
intentionally as a means to forget and start to heal.


Your soul was fresh and happy until the end when the pain
masked and sublimated into you,
the pain finally winning the battle over life and death.


You were one of those people that other people wanted to know,
you were the happiness bulb that brightened a room
a child in the body of a man with the soul of an angel.


Although not much of a street fighter, when laid flat out in a hospital bed
adorned with tubes and clamps and needles and drips, you were the toughest
scrapper I had ever met. You fought pain the way any father would fight for his family.

The middle of January every year for the past 13 years,  that's when the Jekyll Island job is due. We would all meet on the little Georgia Island to deliver the job and take in the sights and aura of the picturesque little port. The Island offered a timely break from the daily grind. Today I finished the Jekyll Island job and your sister and I thought of you much, remembering the times when we gallivanted around the Island like children on holiday without a care in the world.           


I gave your sister and extra hug today. 

Gary was my brother-in-law and died after a 14 year long battle with cancer,
he was an award winning graphic designer as well as an accomplished artist and cook.

He loved Jekyll Island. He is missed



Jekyll Island, Georgia aka driftwood beach

7 comments:

  1. Warm and understanding hugs to you and your lovely Mrs., hon. I've lost too many to think about sometimes, and know the loss and missing of which you speak. My heart remembers all who have gone and all who are missed dearly. xoxo

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  2. Ponita - thanks, he was a real gem, stocked with talent
    cheers

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  3. This is a lovely post. May God bless you, and your wife, during any sad memories.

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  4. Suldog - thanks for the kind words.

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  5. How evocative that beach is of the loneliness you both must have felt. I hope the happy memories will outweigh the painful ones and may he rest in peace.

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