“OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?”

 

“OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?” How often I have spoken those words since my brother took his last breath. How often when a childhood memory or family event hide deep and hazy in my memory, I say in my mind or even out loud, “If I could ask David, he could tell me”. David’s mind was like the Venus Flytrap of the plant world: sensitive, efficient, lightning-fast, and possessing an intuitive sense of that which was worthy of consumption.

          Given that we have gotten beyond family dysfunction, competition, rivalry, and envy that are so often aspects of sibling relationships, our brothers and sisters can represent a safety net for us and companionship, especially in our younger and then in our older years. Often our siblings provide us with the most ardent and reliable emotional support.

The eldest female in a family of eight children, our mother spent her childhood and teen years attending to her younger siblings while her mother saw to her exhaustive duties on their farm. Married at nineteen, and giving birth to me eleven months later, our mother was already worn out from child-rearing. I was a fussy, colicy baby, and when David was born twenty months later, a calm and agreeable baby, he was the influence that helped our mother to settle into her role.

I looked upon David as my co-biographer, because we were together during all our childhood and much of our time beyond. How I miss his particular insights into our past—his verification of our history.© - From Linda Lee Greene Author/Artist