Here’s to you, Ellery Queen…

My brother, David, has been on my mind daily. David has stage 3 lung cancer and has really been through the mill this past year. Most recently, he had surgery on his hip joint to prevent, and I quote, “it from snapping in two.”

The cancer has spread. It’s in his bones. Any one who has dealt with cancer or has had a loved one who has, knows the ramifications of that statement.

I try not to dwell on that part of it. It’s such a minor part of who my brother is. Does it affect who David, the spirit of the person is…no.

David is three years my senior. I always felt he had a disadvantage, being born after Roy and Jim, who were like two peas in a pod. This meant that David was stuck with me as a playmate. I don’t remember him complaining about that fact…not until he was older and I tried to tag along…but he endured being stuck with his kid sister pretty well.

David is extremely creative so it was no surprise to us when he studied architectural design. As kids, David and I would take a sheet of paper. One person would draw a squiggly line on it and the other had five minutes to make a picture out of it. Then, it was the other person’s turn. He has such an amazing gift…I can still see in my mind a picture he drew of the Statue of Liberty…the details were amazing!

David loves music, as did all of my brothers. He loved Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Cars growing up. It’s surprising that we never went to a concert together, because we loved the same music. But I guess by the time we were “concert age”, we had grown apart as playmates.

It’s funny…the things you remember. David had a shirt that we called his “Bean with Bacon” shirt, after the soup by the same name. It was the exact color as the soup and we would tease him about spilling some soup on it every time he wore it.

David made the best fried bologna and cheese sandwich I have ever eaten to this day. He used to say when he grew up, he was going to open a restaurant and sell nothing but fried bologna sandwiches. It seemed perfectly logical to me at the time.

David was the Mike Myers of our house. You know, Mike Myers…aka Wayne of Wayne’s World…SNL fame. David acted (and looked) like Wayne long before he was a character on SNL. He also LOVED Monty Python. He and his friends would get together to recreate scenes from the weekly shows. It was a lot tougher back then, when you didn’t have Hulu or YouTube. Nowadays, you can rewatch a show or scene over and over…back then, you relied on your memory to reenact the skits. David was a natural. I think that Craig gets his knack for impersonations from his Uncle David.

I think I’m writing this so that those of you who don’t know David, will have a little glimpse into the brother I know and love. David is a father of two and has three adorable grandchildren. I know he and his wife, Laurie, would appreciate your prayers, as do I.

So here’s to you, Ellery Queen (you had to be there for that one)…praying for you and sending much love your way.

signed,
Sister Golden Hair