As years go by and things happen. . . the milestones are there. Birthdays. Surgeries. Disease. THE new normal. Then The new new normal. And in-between it all on multiple levels life happens. Only in the latter parts of our lives do we realize that the "shelf" date we have - given at birth on some scroll somewhere in the universe - we realize that the "shelf date" now will have an expiration date.
For my brother - the eldest of the three of us - his expiration date was April 22, 2020. He was born November 21, 1932 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Jer was a multi-talented man. Music & Art.
This post has been extremely difficult for me. I had to let it "sit" a bit over a month. My brother and I were 11 years apart. Growing up I didn't really know him. By the time I was old enough to start bonding with him he left for college and on his way to being a teacher, a husband, a father and always an artist and singer.
His children Monica and Jeff decided to do a memorial live on Face Book - private for only those invited. Jer and I did correspond via snail mail. Smiles He most definitely was NOT a computer person at all. He got to know me more thru correspondence and our phone conversations. There were things he never realized about me - my passion for writing and my style. I shocked him by explaining how much I was fascinated by encaustic art and had done a few pieces and even used the Technic on some of my photos. I may not have gone to college but I have a thirst for knowledge and pushing the boundaries wherever I can.
He wrote his own obituary. It was that mistake on our mother's maiden name and our grandmothers married name that created the desire to do my own ancestry family chart. And, I shall never know how my brother made that mistake - was not like him at all. But when the Danish part of my mother's relatives came to America they dropped the apostrophe so O'Dell became Odell. My grandma Gusty would always sternly say it's Odell NOT O'Dell. She was most emphatic about that. One never forgets those moments.
The three of us (Jerry, Marilyn & me) had three cousins (Roger, Robert & Richard) - who were Aunt Harriet's children. Aunt Harriet was our mother's twin sister. Strangely enough each of us were close in age to Aunt Harriet's boys. Dicky & I were three years apart - he being the older. Where the others were same year and same grades in school. Competition? Probably. I know my Aunt Harriet had always wanted a girl. Perhaps that is why Marilyn was closer to Aunt Harriet. Family dynamics.
And so building my family tree. I was shocked to find out that our three cousins had passed. I am the only one remaining of the six of us. It did leave an impact on me. Not sure why. I was the youngest but still. I am the only one left of that second generation.
And, thus, life goes on. When we are young and innocent, we know we are invincible or so we think. We do not even consider that there is we have a "shelf date" let alone an expiration date. . .
You are In the Studio with Mrs B
