I do have a vision of a particular Thanksgiving however.  I remember it well and with a deep chuckle.  Rene and I were cleaning the turkey out in preparation to stuff the beast.  Now mind you, it was absolutely huge and Rene is a small person, 4�10�, and about 90 lbs at the time I believe.  She reached inside Tom, as she had named him, to pull out the neck and got her ring caught on one of the bones inside.  Now, this in itself may have not been too funny, except the turkey was probably half the size of Rene.  She was also stuck for quite a while.  The laughter started with giggles, and quickly rose to absolute hysterical , insane fits of uncontrollable shrills!  I don�t think she and I had ever laughed together until that moment.  She couldn�t take the ring off without a second hand, we could fit not one more arm in the monster of a fowl, and the giggles made us too weak to do anything.  In the midst of all of this my father called from work to see how things were going and let us know when he would be home.  I, of course, had to answer the phone.  I could barely contain myself long enough to tell him the situation.  When I finally spat out enough of the story between giggling to help him get the gist of the predicament he howled with laughter and said the turkey better get cooked .  He said he was hungry enough to eat the turkey and Rene if the need arose, all barely talking between laughing.  Rene calmly flipped the phone off with her free hand when I repeated his spiel.  This just brought more laughter to all involved.  Now I honestly don�t remember how we got Rene�s hand loose that day.  Maybe my tears and gasping wouldn�t let me see the final solution.  All I know is the turkey got done, without us having to roast Rene with it.

So for this, and much more laughter to come, I thank you Rene.  You are a very special and treasured person to me.  I was not always able to express this to you.  I hope that in the last few years I have done a better job of it.  I love you dearly, I really do.  I know you have a wonderful husband, and I hope you will consider me a daughter.  From my heart I know my life is better with you  part of it.



BUTCH

Sweet brother of mine!  I love you so.  Yet, even at your best you try my patience.  I think that maybe you were to be the person who prepared me to be a mom.  I still remember finding out that I had a little brother, and holding you for the first time.  I was SO happy.  Within a few years I realized why everone had laughed when I had been holding you, smiling.  They didn�t think I was cute, or loving.  They knew the truth even then, you were going to be a hellion!  How come no one warned me!  I mean, how unfair can you be to a young girl? 


Truthfully, my brother has made some serious contributions to my Real Life experience.  He has shown me how to love unconditionally.  What the hell does that mean?  Well, he gave me the ability to love the people I love out of choice, no matter what their faults or failures. He gave me the gift of companionship when I needed it most, he gave me my very first best friend.  It�s hard for me to express what he means to me on the written page.  He is one of the most extraordinary and complex beings I have ever had the pleasure to know.  I am addicted to his laugh, and I love the fact that he always depends on me�.this man who depends on no one.  We share the secrets that only siblings can.  We know all the fears and dreams of each other, from the moment we could communicate effectively, and hopefully until we die.  Although he lives thousands of miles away in Colorado, with his beautiful and tolerant girlfriend Lorin, he is as close to me today as he was the day I held him on his homecoming.  I adore him with abandon, and with out shame.  Sure, he�s done some questionable things in his past, and paid due consequence for those actions.  But he is also the guy who never lets you walk into a room with out a greeting of heartfelt happiness that you are there.  My friend Melissa told me a story once about going to a party.When she walked through the door, she realized she didn�t know many people there.  Then, like a light in the darkness, Butch strode toward the door and gave her a huge hug, asked how she was doing, and if she wanted a drink or something.  He talked to her for a few minutes, introduced her around a little, then went on his merry way.  She had a great time at the party, and stayed late.  But what my brother did made such an impression on her, made her feel so good.  How cool is it to be able to say that it was my brother that made her feel like that, important, special?  Now imagine that the person who does that for others is related to you, that you get to say you know him, love him and that in the end, well, he�s sort of yours?!?!  Let your heart fill up with love and then burst, let it come in a landslide, let it wash away your bad moods and tough days.  That�s how my brother makes me feel.  It�s like the sun, even when I miss him til my heart could just break, the sound of his voice comes on the phone just in time to bring me salvation.
Memoirs continued
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