Brother from another mother

What can you say? What can you do? Only offer support and maybe a drunken diversion at a time like this. For I have been here and others have been here but we must all take the journey alone.

Yesterday I attended a ceremony at my brother’s house. It was a celebration of the passing of his wife. I had been to his house many times before but he is not really my brother.

He is my brother from a different mother.

I met him the first week of high school. He was a friend of a friend of a friend of mine. We had no history but made our own. For three years we became inseparable.

The years passed with college, marriages, families, homes and jobs keeping us apart. But yesterday was different. Yesterday he was my brother again.

As with any brother one can console, consul, and be an open ear without judgment or prejudice. A brother can’t fix the problem but can be there as a familiar smile, a comforting hug and a pocket full of love.

Now my brother must decide his new life while sorting out his emotions. No one can do it for him, but we are all standing on the sidelines rooting for you.