Peaceseeker
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Today, a year ago, my 57 yo brother, and only sib, passed after a courageous WAR w/Pancreatic cancer.
Toay, I've lit some candles in the periphery of a few of his personal items and am reflecting.
Bob's Vandwelling YTube video was perhaps the last video my brother literally watched on this earth. Kinda profound. What if you made a video and knew that whatever message it sent, would be the last video someone would see.
You see, my brother, like many of us, worked his ass off his entire life. He experienced very brief "escapes" from the daily grind of the rat race, to the Smoky Mtns. where he stayed in his 30 yo Fleetwood while renovating a old cabin where he had hoped to live one day in peace. He'd pull his trailer, which was stored at a campground, and stay there overnight on the long drive to the Mts. He would try to make the trip twice a year so progress was slow. He would travel there with his girlfriend until she got cancer and passed about two years prior.
So, when he got sick, he and I would talk seriously about him giving notice at his workplace, selling his house and traveling part time while living in the Mtns where he was happy.
I found Bob's video and we watched it together. His spirit brightened. Next thing I know, I hear him telling a friend of his on the phone about the video!
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to do much of anything. Pancreatic cancer is fiercely aggressive.
A few days before his passing, he whispered to me re: hitting the road, "Take me with you."
I promised him I would.
I will do my best to fulfill the promise and know that he will be in my heart during my travel journey's ahead.
So, the message I would like to share today is that I am making the necessary changes to LIVE LIFE and encourage all those sitting on the fence to go for it! Between my brother and my father who passed unexpectedly at age 62, it is imperative to be mindful of one's choices and not let fear, external expectations, guilt, fill in the blank, consume us.
Bob may never know all the lives this site affects. Albeit brief, it gave my brother a glimmer of light in his darkness. It gave him a ray of hope in a hopeless situation.
For me, a solo empty nester, it provides a network or "tribe" as Bob would say.
Thanks for taking the time to read this if you got this far.
RIP Road Hog
8/18/57-5/15/15
Love you bro
Toay, I've lit some candles in the periphery of a few of his personal items and am reflecting.
Bob's Vandwelling YTube video was perhaps the last video my brother literally watched on this earth. Kinda profound. What if you made a video and knew that whatever message it sent, would be the last video someone would see.
You see, my brother, like many of us, worked his ass off his entire life. He experienced very brief "escapes" from the daily grind of the rat race, to the Smoky Mtns. where he stayed in his 30 yo Fleetwood while renovating a old cabin where he had hoped to live one day in peace. He'd pull his trailer, which was stored at a campground, and stay there overnight on the long drive to the Mts. He would try to make the trip twice a year so progress was slow. He would travel there with his girlfriend until she got cancer and passed about two years prior.
So, when he got sick, he and I would talk seriously about him giving notice at his workplace, selling his house and traveling part time while living in the Mtns where he was happy.
I found Bob's video and we watched it together. His spirit brightened. Next thing I know, I hear him telling a friend of his on the phone about the video!
Unfortunately, there wasn't much time to do much of anything. Pancreatic cancer is fiercely aggressive.
A few days before his passing, he whispered to me re: hitting the road, "Take me with you."
I promised him I would.
I will do my best to fulfill the promise and know that he will be in my heart during my travel journey's ahead.
So, the message I would like to share today is that I am making the necessary changes to LIVE LIFE and encourage all those sitting on the fence to go for it! Between my brother and my father who passed unexpectedly at age 62, it is imperative to be mindful of one's choices and not let fear, external expectations, guilt, fill in the blank, consume us.
Bob may never know all the lives this site affects. Albeit brief, it gave my brother a glimmer of light in his darkness. It gave him a ray of hope in a hopeless situation.
For me, a solo empty nester, it provides a network or "tribe" as Bob would say.
Thanks for taking the time to read this if you got this far.
RIP Road Hog
8/18/57-5/15/15
Love you bro
