Well, it has now been a whole year since my brother Randy has been gone. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him in one way or another. I reminisce alot about when I was stationed in Hawaii and I had called him up on the phone to ask if he would be the best man at my wedding (when he came down, that was also the time he borrowed my roller blades but I forgot to mention that I had taken off the brakes as I was in an roller hockey league so when he skated down the hill by our house and attempted to stop before rolling out into the middle of the road he got a bum full of gravel and also got scraped up pretty good), man I thought that was funny.
I also remember the pride and honour I felt when he asked me (of all people) to be the best man for his wedding which was taking place as soon as I got posted back to Ottawa from Hawaii to this girl Jody he had been telling me so much about… Wow, it was a great first impression of a lovely girl who I can say know is one of the strongest women I know. Of course being an uncle and “The Godfather” isn’t something I take lightly and I was truly very honoured to be asked, I will always look after them and help out to the best of my abilities.
It worked out that it was one month to the day after Randy’s funeral that I ended up getting his name tattooed on my chest over my heart and above his name I got a red poppy which sits on the bottom corner of a red maple leaf. Just a little something to keep his memory alive with me all the time.
Like I said in an earlier post when I was an extra thoughtful mood, remember, each day we have with each other is a gift and each day is an opportunity to live, love, laugh and make a difference in the lives of those around us.
I have received hundreds of photos from Afghanistan from people there when Randy was there and wanting to pass on their condolences and letting me know much he meant to them. They would comment on his infectious laughter and personality and it is amazing to see the effect he had on so many people as he touched their lives in one way or another.
They say the first year after something like this is the hardest as it is always “the first” of many things. The first Christmas, the first birthdays, etc and we have managed to somehow make it this far. It has been challenging at times but I feel we have to keep going, for our sake, for the kids, and because Randy would want us to…