February - It's About Relatives

The February prompt for NaBloPoMo is Relative.  They're also posting a daily prompt on weekdays, weekends are free writing.  If you're interested in the daily prompts, go HERE.  There is no pressure to follow them, the main thing is to just keep writing every day.  The one suggested for today is "mother" and I've written a lot about my two mothers.  If you scroll down to my Labels List, you can select stories to read about both of them.  They are under mom, momma, and grandma.  In fact, I just added them to the labels at the bottom of this post to make it easier.  Did you know you can click on a label, and you go right to the posts on that subject?  It took me a while to figure that out when I first began blogging.

Donnie & big brother Ronnie

 Even before I knew that the prompt was to be Relative, I'd been thinking about family.  A couple days ago, I started pooling photos into a "Siblings" album.  I have quite a few siblings.  My lil sis and I share the same mother and father, but there were also half brothers, half sisters, step brothers and a step sister.  Two half brothers are no longer with us.  Donnie was the baby.  He passed on very young from Leukemia.  I have such strong memories of those last days with him.  He didn't live with us, but when he became so ill, Dad brought the boys over more often.  I remember the bruises on his little arms.  I asked grandma why he had so many and heard the word "transfusions" for the first time.  He was so sweet, and his journey in this life was too short.  I imagined arms of ancestors wide open, waiting for him.  I did wonder if I'd prayed harder, would God have let him stay.  I was ten years old.

My brother Tommy also left this life before I was ready.  I've written about him several times before.  The labels are Tom, Tommy, and Brother.  I still miss him.  Some days it hurts to think about him.  Most days I have peace because I believe he is with others I love, just out of sight, in that spiritual world we cannot see with our human eyes.

Our siblings play such important parts in our lives.  They are pieces of the puzzle that make us who we are.  I love every one of mine and am thankful my life was blessed with them.

© 01FEB2012 ajj