Big Brother
My family had a birthday celebration at my house during the Fourth of July holiday. We had a cookout and celebrated June and July birthdays. We all enjoyed spending time with each other and honoring the birthday guys and gals.
My youngest brother, Scotty, asked if I wanted to come over to his house afterward. I said, Yes! So Anthony, my oldest brother, and I followed Scotty to his house. It had been way too long since I had been to his house and I was looking forward to seeing his wife, since she is home bound. It had been longer than I would like to mention since I had seen her, though I had talked to her on the phone several times.
While we were at their house, Anthony showed Scotty how to burn some of Scotty’s music files onto a CD. I took notes for Scotty, since he is not that familiar with computers. I told Anthony that maybe we could make a career out of this. We could make house calls and train people to use computers. Anthony could provide instructions and I could type notes on my laptop and print it out for them before we leave…Assistant to my brother on the road…another dream job of mine…see blog posts “Priceless,” and “Beach Bum” for other dream jobs of mine.
Scotty plays acoustic, classical guitar. He has urged me often to learn and play. He is self-taught and plays beautifully. He has even written some original music.
I wanted to show Scotty some things on the computer too. I worked at a computer repair shop and I know a few things about computers, so I had to put my two cents’ worth into the mix.
Anthony and Scotty are highly intelligent, spiritual and talented people. They both play guitar, thus my on- and off-again, love/hate relationship with my own desire to play the guitar. I took lessons about ten years ago, but I really stink at playing the guitar…it is very hard work and I am not naturally talented at playing, like my brothers. My guitar mostly serves as decoration as it “gently weeps” because it is not being played to its’ full potential.
The Beatles-While My Guitar Gently Weeps
After a short visit, Anthony and I made our way home. We decided to take a different route than we came. It was dark outside as we were leaving my brother’s neighborhood. There was also an overabundance of people in the street, shooting fireworks, celebrating the Fourth of July. I was driving and all of these things made me a little nervous.
As we were riding along, we saw more and more people on the street shooting loud fireworks. I soon realized that we were “Not in Kansas anymore.” We were not on the way home…we were lost!! I felt anxious!! I don’t drive at night much; all the people on the streets, the noise of the fireworks and now we are lost!! I did have a small panic attack. However, I decided to turn around and go back the way we came. When we were at the spot where we made our mistake, we simply turned the other way and we were on the right track.
Anthony said in an email to me, “As for getting lost, in guy terms we weren’t really lost, just riding around a bit before going home. No need to panic….” Yeah, easy for him to say, but I did feel a bit panicked. I explained to him on the way home that now that I have Interstitial Cystitis and Fibromyalgia, etc., etc., I tend to panic more. I explained that I am learning to recognize when I am panicked and try some deep breathing techniques to help. It doesn’t always work, but it is certainly worth a try!
It was a good to spend time with my Big Brother and I enjoyed the ride home. Anthony and I have become closer over the last couple of years. We have developed a loving bond for each other that we never had until recently.
He suffers from chronic pain; he loves music; he is devoted to the Lord; and he has a passion for writing. All of these things, both the good and the bad, must have made us realize we have a lot in common. Since I have been sick with Interstitial Cystitis, I starting blogging to encourage others. He has been the main source of encouragement to keep me motivated to write.
He guides me in my struggles with pain; he inspires me on my journey with the Lord; he even futility tries to boost my love for practicing guitar. He keeps me focused on my writing. Like a proud Big Brother, he wants me to be better at it. He wants me to stretch myself and be successful. I am thankful for his encouragement more than he will ever know. I thank God for my Big Brother!
I am thankful for two intellectually gifted and inspiring brothers!
