Bear with me here. Just some reflection after the weekend.
It was back in the early 80s when I visited a good friend at work . He introduced me to a co- working friend of his. The three of us started hanging out . At that time this guy was living at home with his parents. He was paying his own college and just couldn't afford to move out yet. They lived in an old farm house south of the city. The house was a buzz with life. He had 3 brothers. Two older and one younger. One of the older was about to get married and the oldest was changing jobs and moving from California to Houston but spent about 8 months at the home place . His dad was a crazy Canadian. His mom was a saint putting up with the 5 men in the house along with 3 dogs. Something was always going on in that home.
We ended up playing years of city league basketball, going to clubs, and several trips to Mexico together. Pretty close friends.
I was on a trip to Ruidoso with who would become my wife when I got a phone call from my buddy's girlfriend. She said the youngest brother was just killed in a car wreck. He was 21. Incredibly sad. His whole life ahead of him.
A couple years later his father died and his mom soon after.
There was still 3 boys left but at the age of 47, my friend calls me and tells me the cold he thought he had was stage 4 cancer. He was dead within a couple of months.
Then....last Thursday I see on Facebook that the oldest has died at 67 from a brief illness. Only one boy left. He was the only one who was happily married and had kids. He lives in the metroplex and has one kid in New York and one in Louisiana.
After hearing about the oldest brother I decided to drive out to that old farmhouse. It was falling in on itself . Weeds taking over the circle drive along with the rest of the place. Hard to imagine that place as anything but a dilapidated old farm house, much less see it as a hub of so much life.
I've always wondered about abandoned old farmhouses and wondered about the folks who might have lived there.
This was now a place like that but I knew at least part of the story. A family who dreamed, worked, lived and died , and a home that served as a great place for them.
No real reason to post this really....just some thoughts after reflecting on this family.
It was back in the early 80s when I visited a good friend at work . He introduced me to a co- working friend of his. The three of us started hanging out . At that time this guy was living at home with his parents. He was paying his own college and just couldn't afford to move out yet. They lived in an old farm house south of the city. The house was a buzz with life. He had 3 brothers. Two older and one younger. One of the older was about to get married and the oldest was changing jobs and moving from California to Houston but spent about 8 months at the home place . His dad was a crazy Canadian. His mom was a saint putting up with the 5 men in the house along with 3 dogs. Something was always going on in that home.
We ended up playing years of city league basketball, going to clubs, and several trips to Mexico together. Pretty close friends.
I was on a trip to Ruidoso with who would become my wife when I got a phone call from my buddy's girlfriend. She said the youngest brother was just killed in a car wreck. He was 21. Incredibly sad. His whole life ahead of him.
A couple years later his father died and his mom soon after.
There was still 3 boys left but at the age of 47, my friend calls me and tells me the cold he thought he had was stage 4 cancer. He was dead within a couple of months.
Then....last Thursday I see on Facebook that the oldest has died at 67 from a brief illness. Only one boy left. He was the only one who was happily married and had kids. He lives in the metroplex and has one kid in New York and one in Louisiana.
After hearing about the oldest brother I decided to drive out to that old farmhouse. It was falling in on itself . Weeds taking over the circle drive along with the rest of the place. Hard to imagine that place as anything but a dilapidated old farm house, much less see it as a hub of so much life.
I've always wondered about abandoned old farmhouses and wondered about the folks who might have lived there.
This was now a place like that but I knew at least part of the story. A family who dreamed, worked, lived and died , and a home that served as a great place for them.
No real reason to post this really....just some thoughts after reflecting on this family.
