The Angel in my LIfe

Losing a sibling is such an odd thing.  We expect to see our parents die.  We dread the very thought of our children even possibly not out living us.  I have discovered that we don’t give much thought to the loss of our brothers and sisters.  When my brother died I was more grief stricken than I could have imagined.  It was almost as if it was me in that casket.  We were the same biology and it could have just as easily been me.

My brother was my best friend in life.  My greatest cheerleader.  Whatever adventure, silliness or crazy thing I was doing at the time he would simply ask me if I was having fun.  I experienced more love and acceptance from him than anyone else in my life up until his passing 4 years ago.  We spoke nearly everyday and told each other we loved each other frequently.  Upon Kenny’s sudden passing I was the lucky one because we had kept our relationship clean and had left nothing unspoken so I had NO regrets.  Can you even imagine that?  NO what ifs, NO if onlys, just the pure grief of losing one of the dearest people I have ever known.

Kenny was a real character in his lifetime.  Growing up as his younger sister I was always known as Kenny’s sister, a title I loved.  When I moved to California, he followed me with his wife and new baby to be close to me and start a new life in a new exciting place that was close to Disneyland.  When I left my life and moved 90 miles away some 20 years later and he began to visit me there I would take him around and introduce him to my new friends and he became known as my brother.  Until one day when we were at a party celebrating the Summer Solstice and Kenny in his lovely way went around and talked to everyone and was truly interested in them.  by the end of that party I again was known as kenny’s sister.  We laughed about that and I loved it because it once again showed me the character of this man I was lucky enough to call my brother.