You may have noticed my production of BLOG posts is slowing down. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is I am blessed to be extremely busy at work. The second reason is not so great you see my big brother died two weeks ago.
My brother was a giant of a man 6-6 tall , an honorable mention high school All American in basketball and and a champion power lifter. He was a general superintendent on huge power construction projects and directed thousands of men building them. He traveled all over the US and worked in the extreme cold and heat on the modern American frontier in such garden spots as Rock Springs WY and Farmington NM.
My brother and his family settled in Philadelphia and in 1988 he worked on his last power project. The power construction industry died along with the growth of the American economy in the late 1980s. My brother worked numerous jobs over the next 22 years and at one time cleaned office buildings to make a living. It really makes me mad when I hear someone talk about " The jobs Americans won't do". Although the house they purchased was in an upper middle class neighborhood the public school district it was in was not. His children attended private schools to keep them safe from the gangs and drugs that were bussed into their neighborhood from the inner city. All the while he was being heavily taxed for inferior local public schools. Needless to say they struggled to pay their bills but they were paid.
My brother definitely had the gift of gab and was a charmer. He was a natural born salesman and could sell hamburgers to the Hindus. He moved into construction marketing and managed to sell 10s of millions in construction projects for the firms he worked for.
But 12 years ago something happened, my brother developed a debilitating decease known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Don't worry you won't find this disease in the approved list of AMA diseases. My brother grew sicker and sicker lost weight and eventually became a walking skeleton. He grew deathly ill around certain chemicals and smells and developed nausea .The Dr's whom he visited were unable to treat his ailment let alone his symptoms. Over the years my brothers world became smaller and smaller until the point that he was reduced to living and sleeping in his living room. He to an extent became a type of " bubble boy". His marriage suffered and eventually he was separated from his wife.
Despite his chronic disease he still managed to sell massive amounts of construction until late 2008. That was when and we were hit with TARP Wall Street bailouts and a massive heart attack to the American economy. My brother was 64 years old laid off and had little savings and was chronically ill. He lost his health insurance with his job and he was too young for Medicare. I offered for him to move in with me in CA but he refused. He finally ran out of hope last week and took his life.
My brother played by the rules , paid his taxes and lived a good life. He was the kind of person no one would have resented helping but no one did. He was a poster child for health care reform but my brother would have vehemently disagreed with the monstrosity passed by Congress masquerading as health care reform.
A Giant has fallen deafly in the woods .
A Voice Crying
My brother was a giant of a man 6-6 tall , an honorable mention high school All American in basketball and and a champion power lifter. He was a general superintendent on huge power construction projects and directed thousands of men building them. He traveled all over the US and worked in the extreme cold and heat on the modern American frontier in such garden spots as Rock Springs WY and Farmington NM.
My brother and his family settled in Philadelphia and in 1988 he worked on his last power project. The power construction industry died along with the growth of the American economy in the late 1980s. My brother worked numerous jobs over the next 22 years and at one time cleaned office buildings to make a living. It really makes me mad when I hear someone talk about " The jobs Americans won't do". Although the house they purchased was in an upper middle class neighborhood the public school district it was in was not. His children attended private schools to keep them safe from the gangs and drugs that were bussed into their neighborhood from the inner city. All the while he was being heavily taxed for inferior local public schools. Needless to say they struggled to pay their bills but they were paid.
My brother definitely had the gift of gab and was a charmer. He was a natural born salesman and could sell hamburgers to the Hindus. He moved into construction marketing and managed to sell 10s of millions in construction projects for the firms he worked for.
But 12 years ago something happened, my brother developed a debilitating decease known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity. Don't worry you won't find this disease in the approved list of AMA diseases. My brother grew sicker and sicker lost weight and eventually became a walking skeleton. He grew deathly ill around certain chemicals and smells and developed nausea .The Dr's whom he visited were unable to treat his ailment let alone his symptoms. Over the years my brothers world became smaller and smaller until the point that he was reduced to living and sleeping in his living room. He to an extent became a type of " bubble boy". His marriage suffered and eventually he was separated from his wife.
Despite his chronic disease he still managed to sell massive amounts of construction until late 2008. That was when and we were hit with TARP Wall Street bailouts and a massive heart attack to the American economy. My brother was 64 years old laid off and had little savings and was chronically ill. He lost his health insurance with his job and he was too young for Medicare. I offered for him to move in with me in CA but he refused. He finally ran out of hope last week and took his life.
My brother played by the rules , paid his taxes and lived a good life. He was the kind of person no one would have resented helping but no one did. He was a poster child for health care reform but my brother would have vehemently disagreed with the monstrosity passed by Congress masquerading as health care reform.
A Giant has fallen deafly in the woods .
A Voice Crying
I also lost my brother this year . He was aiso a great man it hits me very hard . It was also somehow wrong because he was my younger brother.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear of your loss. You and he are in my prayers. james keefer
ReplyDelete