When you cannot be with family, photos can bring back treasured memories of happier times. This month, of course, I looked at photos of, taken by, or including my only sibling Bryan, with a broken heart.
I barely remember the early years (both born during WW2) and tend to have more memories of our lives together after we moved to Kingsbury in 1949. Thanks to my kind relatives in England, I now have more photos of Bryan when young, of both of us in another great display of our Mum’s talent with “fancy dress.” This may have been a first and last for Bryan, as I think I was the one who still had to be draped with crepe paper for the next ten years!
Growing up, as many families after the War, we did not have many treats but we sure appreciated any that came along – and our Dad often brought home second hand items to refurbish…. rarely did we ever have anything new. As children and teens we both appreciated the “things” that we got later in life, always bearing in mind that Family is First. This was proven beyond a doubt when he (and Jean and family) looked after Dad and Mum and my Skype-buddy Andy Pandy.
After I moved to Canada in 1962 it was not easy to keep in touch – phone calls had to be booked in advance and were extremely expensive…but I did get to see him (and Jean, Andrew and Chris) when visiting Mum and Dad and relatives in England on several occasions – and in recent years, using email and then Skype
Those of you who knew him will agree that Bryan was a wonderful son, husband, father, father-in-law and granddad…. true friend, neighbour, relative or co-worker and of course, brother, and Uncle to Deb and Tonya.
I could mention more “stories’” … from the viewpoint of the little sister “brat,” but the main thing is I loved him more than he knew, and even more than I realized
Bryan: you always were and will always be MY BIG BROTHER.
‘Til we meet again, June