Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores
Photographer Patricia Gulick

Friday, February 9, 2018

2/9/18 RMB Silent January

2/9/18 RMB Silent January

Dear Rita Mae Brown,

Given thirty-one days, I can normally come up with something to say. But January was not a normal month.

On the morning of January 8th, my brother Rocky crossed over to the next phase of our existence. He would have been 62 today, February 9th.

There are days that I still find myself doing something routine, normal in every respect, and feeling that there has been a shift. Normal is not normal anymore because my world no longer includes my Rocky.

Although I talk to him and believe he hears and even responds, it is not the same. He does feel lighter though, no longer struggling for each breath from COPD.

On the morning I flew home to California after his services, a light snow fell. I’ve never been in an Alabama snowfall. Having spent summers there since childhood, this was a first. From my father’s kitchen window, we watched three deer eat the corn and grain he put out for them. Snow landed gently on their brown coats of fir and shiny noses. They visit often, but not normally in the late morning light, with four adults making noise in the kitchen and watching them.

I was thankful for their visit. There is more to say about that trip, but for now, this is enough, just a little hello to you, a Happy Birthday shout out to my big brother, and a new RMB letter. He encouraged my writing. He read the letters I posted to you. He was a one of the good guys, one of those people that always did his best, helped others, did good work, a good listener and a good story teller. When a heated discussion arose about various “kinds” of people, he ended it with the statement “People are people”, asserting that there are good people and bad people in every “kind” of people. He will be missed.

Still adjusting,

Loraine