Yes. He's my brother.
My sister and niece are back in Ohio right now, visiting old spots and such. We were all born in Ohio, my siblings in Kent and Cleveland, myself in Akron.
I've written about us before but as a brief recap:
We have different dads, they and I. Will is the eldest (now 69), then Jim, John and my sister brings up the rear of their group. They each have the birth order characteristics, very distinctly, just to mention. People often expect me to have the "baby" personality, but from the age of 5 I was on my own in the sibling pool. Just a btw.
Will, the practical one, CPA. Married twice, first one over a decade and the 2nd 28 yrs and still going, 2 kids + 2 step, army, Vietnam. Colorado boy for most of his adult life.
John, the baby of the boys. Teacher, musician/songwriter, lawyer, pilot. Air Force, Vietnam. Married first for about 10 yrs, 2nd was for a wkend, been in a long term relationship for many years now, 2 sons (3, actually but I'm unclear on his feelings currently regarding the 3rd), ski bum Colorado boy as well.
Jim.
The 2nd son. Sensitive, cynical, honest, hard-working. Artist. His line drawings are amazing but the pastels and watercolors aren't bad either. At all. Army. Vietnam. Married to Marie, a strong lovely woman, for most of my life...probably about 47 yrs, his son made me an auntie at my ripe age of 3.
Jim is the one that I identify with the closest of my brothers. Jim is also the one that I do not have a relationship with. My father did a huge amount of damage to Jim. None of us made it out unscathed, but of their group Jim was the one most negatively impacted, at the same time in his life that Vietnam happened, which took parts of him...and he admittedly can't separate me from my father. My journey was very different and much longer obviously, the lessons learned are always interspersed throughout my writing.
So, I love him from here and count him as my family. Accepting that he can't have me in his life was an epiphanic moment for me. If this isn't a word, it needs to be. Because that's what it was. Maybe I'm spelling it incorrectly, I'll check later.
Anyway.
My sister posted a photo yesterday of her with Jim and Marie. So amazing. I haven't seen him or a picture since our mom's funeral in '98. We talked then and promised it wouldn't be another 25 yrs.
He had a major heart attack earlier this yr, but looks GREAT.
2 days ago I found my saved link to this page that he consented to work with.
He's an amazing fellow.
My sister and niece are back in Ohio right now, visiting old spots and such. We were all born in Ohio, my siblings in Kent and Cleveland, myself in Akron.
I've written about us before but as a brief recap:
We have different dads, they and I. Will is the eldest (now 69), then Jim, John and my sister brings up the rear of their group. They each have the birth order characteristics, very distinctly, just to mention. People often expect me to have the "baby" personality, but from the age of 5 I was on my own in the sibling pool. Just a btw.
Will, the practical one, CPA. Married twice, first one over a decade and the 2nd 28 yrs and still going, 2 kids + 2 step, army, Vietnam. Colorado boy for most of his adult life.
John, the baby of the boys. Teacher, musician/songwriter, lawyer, pilot. Air Force, Vietnam. Married first for about 10 yrs, 2nd was for a wkend, been in a long term relationship for many years now, 2 sons (3, actually but I'm unclear on his feelings currently regarding the 3rd), ski bum Colorado boy as well.
Jim.
The 2nd son. Sensitive, cynical, honest, hard-working. Artist. His line drawings are amazing but the pastels and watercolors aren't bad either. At all. Army. Vietnam. Married to Marie, a strong lovely woman, for most of my life...probably about 47 yrs, his son made me an auntie at my ripe age of 3.
Jim is the one that I identify with the closest of my brothers. Jim is also the one that I do not have a relationship with. My father did a huge amount of damage to Jim. None of us made it out unscathed, but of their group Jim was the one most negatively impacted, at the same time in his life that Vietnam happened, which took parts of him...and he admittedly can't separate me from my father. My journey was very different and much longer obviously, the lessons learned are always interspersed throughout my writing.
So, I love him from here and count him as my family. Accepting that he can't have me in his life was an epiphanic moment for me. If this isn't a word, it needs to be. Because that's what it was. Maybe I'm spelling it incorrectly, I'll check later.
Anyway.
My sister posted a photo yesterday of her with Jim and Marie. So amazing. I haven't seen him or a picture since our mom's funeral in '98. We talked then and promised it wouldn't be another 25 yrs.
He had a major heart attack earlier this yr, but looks GREAT.
2 days ago I found my saved link to this page that he consented to work with.
He's an amazing fellow.
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