A Year in a Life

 

Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends. These are the words of Joan Didion from her book The Year of Magical Thinking on the unexpected loss of a loved one. My instant was yesterday. Last week, at our family reunion, I had a half brother. Today I don't. He didn't sit down to dinner, he took a nap and without warning or complaint entered into eternity. A simple text told the tale that I still can't process. It was only about a year ago that I even knew he existed. A DNA test resulted in many, many hard kept secrets being uncovered and he was one of them. He was four months older than me and a kinder and gentler version of Dad. My family fell in love with him and he with us. He had searched all his life to find his roots and he was finally home. Today we mourn for someone we barely knew but had hoped to have a future with. I was preparing a family album to show him all the people that have come and gone of which he is now one. So much to share, so many feelings and thoughts now all out to sea.