Monday #3-Missing Titanic

I could write a really long post for these memories...but since most of you know about this already, and I have written about this in depth other places, I will be keeping it relatively short. The most challenging experience in my life to date...that also helped me grow...is when my oldest brother went missing. He was gone for 7 1/2 yrs. He has since been found...more on this part later. It was and is by far the hardest thing I ever had to face. He was my best friend, and biggest supporter. The thing that was hardest was the unknown. But in losing him...I was no longer able to depend so strongly on him. This forced me to learn to depend on myself more. Also, due to events surrounding his disappearance and following it, I followed a path that lead me to my current best friend and biggest supporter...Jim! I am not sure if our paths would have crossed if the chain of events that it triggered hadn't happened. I grew so very much in so many ways in those 7 1/2 years...the largest of which was spiritually. So, while it was horrible to go through...there is silver lining in those years that I wouldn't give up for anything now.


Now on this note comes not one but two cherished memories that I will FOREVER hold close to my heart...the last time I saw him before his disappearance, and the first time I saw him when we found him. I left home for a job about a month before he left, but before I left he took my out on the town. We went to see the Titanic, and out for ice cream afterward. While those were fun, the conversation we had that night was what kept me hanging on for those hard years. That and the last line in a letter he sent me..."You darn well better not forget that you have a big brother who loves you and always will."

It was these words I remembered when we saw each other again...first alone, and then to meet my "new" family. Courtney was a little babe...just a few months old. The joy, the happiness, and the gratitude in being able to see him again...priceless. Watching him turn into a very proud uncle in a matter of minutes...irreplaceablely priceless!! Definitely two of the best memories I hold, and so very cherished!!