TheBanyanTree: My brother Bill

[Bill]

Gloria, I think Bill would say he had a wonderful sister if he could have 
heard what you said. Our siblings pretty much are what we expect them to be. 
My hero all my life was my oldest sister. She passed away in Dec 02 and I 
still miss talking to her.

Still His Servant
Bro  Bill
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gloria" <burns.gloria at gmail.com>
To: "Banyan Tree" <thebanyantree at remsset.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2006 12:04 PM
Subject: TheBanyanTree: My brother Bill


> 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