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A Happy Memory

16 years ago

I would like to share a memory of my brother, who died suddely, in May 06. My Mother, my son and I drove to Calgary to visit Bob in August 05. It turned out to be the last time we saw him alive. I had taken an airmattress for my son to sleep on. The previous summer, Bob's kittens had scratched tiny holes in it, and we had to fill it every night. Bob had an airpump that he was exciited about. He insisted that once the mattress was full, the pump would disengage itself. He kept pumping and pumping until we heard a loud pop. He had blown a huge hole into the the mattress. Bob got out his mending kit, and put glue and a patch on the hole. We put a book on top of the patch, and took turns standing on it for weight. Anyhow, while I was standing on the book, he left the room for a few minutes. When he came back, he, very formally, shook my hand and said "I would like to present you with the award for being the best sister in the world" and he gave me a GPS.

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Comments (5)

mav63_2007
16 years ago
Thank you for sharing you wonderful story and happy memory, your brother obviously loved you very much.
God Bless you.
socks
16 years ago
That IS a happy memory. What a nice brother! I'm sorry he passed away. Keep that good memory and others close at heart; it's clear you enriched each other's lives. Thanks for sharing the air matteress/GPS moment!
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So, I have this uncle . . . who gave my parents a beautiful large Chinese platter, which sits in my living room, but I never knew him, because he died in World War II. I was always told he died on the Bataan Death March. Turns out that's not exactly true. In the last decade, there's so much more information available on the Internet, If you'e been looking for people -- try again. And there's a ton of information on servicemen. only this year I found this out: On this Memorial Day, I'd like to take the opportunity to remember my uncle, Benjamin Lee McMakin, my father's favorite brother. He was a United States Marine Major serving in the Philllipines in WWII, when he was captured in May 1942 by the Japanese at Corregidor. He managed to survive the Japanese prison camps for more than two years, until in December 1944 he was transferred to the Oryoko Maru, a POW "hell ship" -- an unmarked ship transporting prisoners for slave labor, which was bombed by the Allies, and was killed on the ship or trying to escape. I never met him, of course, but I remember. Uncle Ben -- thank you for your service, and . . . I have your plate!
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alisande
16 years ago
I'm glad you shared that story. If I had a brother, I'd want him to feel that way about me. I'll bet you have many wonderful memories of Bob.
hamc36
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you. I do have many good memories of Bob. I'm trying
to focus on them rather than his death, and what could have been (although, you all know how hard that is). He was such a sweet guy. His friends would joke about how cheap he was. "Bob still has the first dollar he ever earned" Yet, when his friends were down on their luck, he'd take them in and let them live with him, rent-free. After he died, one of his roomates told me that Bob paid his tuition, in exchange for a promise to re-wire Bob's house. It was just like Bob to give his friend this generous gift, and not mention it to anyone.
tigpie
16 years ago
Your story brings tears to my eyes.

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