He always wore his Boston baseball cap,
loved the game from young,
liked going with friends to watch players lap
the bases as if they were a necklace strung
together, it was the thrill of it all, anthem sung,
hot dogs eaten slathered in mustard and relish,
guys gathered, burdens rested, every moment embellished.
In the last photo of my brother four days before he died two weeks ago, he was with his friends. He was smiling in his baseball cap after going to a game with them. Looking happy. He was on his way to met a friend for coffee when he died. Just living his life. The suddenness is hard on those who loved him but it seems a good way to go. I'm glad for him. Offered for the G-Man's Friday 55 (counting the title).
My condolences to you on your loss. Yes, it does seem a good way to go...enjoying life, on the way to meet a friend. Feeling good about life. No suffering involved. Hard for all nonetheless, and I am sure many will miss his presence but remember his joy.
ReplyDeleteHis grin said it all and everyone with their arms around one another's shoulders. Nice picture.
Deletei am glad he was with his friends....and that he had a passion for such a game...i love baseball...the smell of the stadium that first game of the season is def a sign of spring. i am sorry for your loss. we thought we might lose my dad this week when he had a heart attack. life comes at you way too fast.
ReplyDeleteIt felt way too fast and I was way too unprepared. Good healing to your Dad.
DeleteSo sorry for your loss, Mary, but as you say, it's good to remember him as he was,happy and immersed in something he loved. You've written a fine tribute to him here.
ReplyDeleteIt was how he was living his life for years now and I'm so glad for him and for his daughters as well as me.
DeleteNo death is ever anticipated. That he was with friends, is a comforting thought.
ReplyDeleteYes, it feels comforting, Rosaria.
DeleteMary...
ReplyDeleteBig Sister protecting till the very end.
I'm so sorry, but you showed that life is a celebration, as it should be
Loved your Brotherly 55
Thanks for playing, thanks for sharing, and YOU have a Kick Ass Week-End
I'm grateful he took over and was protecting himself lately.
DeleteWith tears I greet you after hearing from you that he died the day after my grandson was born. It's true that this is the way to go, though it's very hard on loved ones. You've done something important here with this poem, to honor him with verse. May you all be comforted.
ReplyDeleteStrange, I was just thinking about you before sleep last night.
I've been off line for a week and saw the announcement of your grandson's birth today. It struck me with the whole spin of life and death that makes up our lives. Welcome to Henry, good-bye to Don.
DeleteI am sorry for your loss, Mary! Your brother seems to have been a great brother and a great friend. You wrote a lovely tribute. I am sure he'd be proud.
ReplyDeleteI hope so. He was a great brother for sure and I cherish those memories.
DeleteSo sorry about your loss Mary ~ How fast and hard life makes a turn, so unexpectedly too ~
ReplyDeleteThere's no time ahead of such a death to prepare. It's just an instant change to gradually come to terms with.
DeleteThe loss of a sibling must be so hard. I send you my deepest sympathies. His death was so unexpected. I'm so sorry.
ReplyDeleteSince he was born when I was 2 1/2, he's always been in my life- close when we were young, then some drifting years then close again. I'm glad we both made the effort to make it so. I admire him.
DeleteThinking of you.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful.
DeleteI am sorry for your loss. But he seems to have taken hold of his life. And he died, doing something he enjoyed... Going to meet a friend. No one would wish differently, for him.
ReplyDeleteGentle hugs,
Tessa~
So true- just what I would wish for him.
Delete