When I was almost two my little brother was added to our clan completing our family with a nice even 6. I guess there were 8 of us if you include, my parents, myself, my 3 brothers, our German Shepard, and our VW Vanagon. Believe me the dog and the van were very much a part of the family.
We went to a private school called Heritage Academy. We also went to church there so during the school year it felt like we were there more than we were at home. Around my second week of Kindergarten my little brother was diagnosed with Leukemia. I never thought of him as sick, him and I were a duo. Hospitals, Doctors, central lines, and transplants were just a part of life and felt normal to me. We still had it good. Our family was best friends with our neighbors next door. We did everything together, holidays, vacations, we even shared a playground. There was a lot of land out where we lived and we explored every inch of it. When I turned 9 things started to get a little tougher for my family. My brother was admitted to the ICU and my family ended up staying in an apartment near the hospital so that we could be close to him.
One day I was pulled out of class and taken to the school office where I found my family waiting for me. My dad shared the news that my little brother had gone to heaven to be with Jesus. It all went by so fast after that, the memorial, the funeral, the burial, and then it was over. He was gone and we had to move on. We only grew closer from there, and we still cherish the memories. I know someday I will get to see my little brother again.
1 comment:
Natalie, I love you so much. These memories are so wonderful. I was actually looking at the picture of Richard and Zion on your site the other day with the water fountains and remembering the time we went to Niagara Falls and Zeb had to keep his lines from getting wet but we wanted him to play in the water so much. My friend works at Children's now and there isn't a time I hear her say the name that I don't think of Zeb.
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