TheBanyanTree: My brother Bill

[Gloria]

At Tobie's prompting for stories, I thought I'd share what I said at
my brother Bill's funeral service last week.

My first memory of my brother Bill: My not wanting to say goodbye when
he was leaving for military duty.  I was all of 5 or 6 yrs old.  I
remember my mother saying I wouldn't be seeing him again for a very
long time.  It was then that I hugged him.  Maybe it was during the
same time frame that I said, I want to be as big as Bill.  Mom
reminded me of that statement many times.

Then later on in life, I remember seeing him hanging out of the window
on the second floor of the Michigan Bell Telephone building where we
both worked in downtown Flint.  He kept his eye on the employees
coming and going.  Those same employees called him Chicken Hawk and
named me Chicken Hawk, Jr. after a strike by the union employees left
me, one of the non-union employees, afraid to walk through the picket
line.  Bill quickly saw my plight and announced that I was his little
sister and they needed to let me through.  I have fond memories of our
Friday payday and the celebrations shared with Bill and his friends.
Bill could always find a reason to celebrate and make people laugh.

At Al & I's wedding, Bill grabbed Al by the shirt collar and simply
said... Take good care of my little sister.  I was totally
embarrassed, but Al got the message.  He's been taking good care of me
for 27 years now.

Bill's love for his daughter Tisha is obvious to all.   You were the
light in his life and he never forgot that.  Your Dad's whole family
loves you and is proud of you too, Tisha.

And speaking of family... our parents 5 children don't live near one
another.  Yet in times of need there is a coming together that warms
my heart.  My brother Roger and sister Judy both put their lives at
home on hold, so they could come and care for our brother.  From the
bottom of my heart, I thank you.  Thank you also to Jim for caring for
Bill for months without any of us knowing just how sick our brother
was.  I was also touched at Bill's friend Jim that came to hospital
each day to visit with Bill.   I know there are more of you here today
and that you too have done your part.  I just haven't met you yet.
True friends like you two are very hard to find and Bill was blessed
to have you.

So maybe when I was little and said I wanted to be as big as Bill, I
could see that Bill was larger than life.  Maybe I wanted the same for
myself.  He was fond of action, fast cars filled his need for speed,
boats filled the need to be near bodies of water.  He enjoyed sports
and took the time to teach his little sister the rules of football.
I'm still a fan today and I think I owe that to Bill.

I'll miss you and I love you, Bill... rest in peace.

Gloria...still dreamin' about that kinder, gentler world for ALL