We made it! We are in a new year! 2022 has arrived, as we all hope for health, happiness, and a better year than the last! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, as 2021 closed out.
November and December are always months of celebration. This past year though, there was loss replacing the normal celebrations for many, with the passing of loved ones.
On the bright side, my two little grandsons turned 6 and 1 in November and December. In a somber note, my “little” {and only} brother died of cancer, just before Thanksgiving.
Forgive me, if I take a moment to remember him.
I remember, as a little boy he had big brown eyes, reminding me of the old comic strip, Dondi. One day, in elementary school, my class was putting on a play around Dondi, and looking for someone to play the main character. Not knowing any better, I dragged my little brother to my school, he couldn’t have been more than 4, telling the teacher, he was the perfect choice! Kindly, the teacher explained, although he was adorable, he wasn’t old enough and couldn’t possibly memorize lines. I was heartbroken, and amazingly, years later, although he was small at the time, Billy remembered that day!! He was disappointed also!!
Fast forward a few years, when I was a teen and out trying to discover who I was, my brother and I didn’t have a lot in common. He admitted to me much later, that during that time, he had stolen/borrowed my motorcycle to go joy riding!
Years later, when I was looking for an apartment, he let me move in with him, into the upstairs of a house he was renting from a sweet woman named Ruby. I have memories of us not having a lot of money, waiting for my tax return to come in, and going food shopping, filling up two carts to the brim. Having no washer or dryer in the apartment, we made many trips to the local laundromat, a less than stellar establishment, and laughing hysterically over trying to fold a sheet to keep it from touching the laundromat’s grungy floor. That upstairs apartment was behind a fast food restaurant (Blimpies) and across from a gas station. Very handy! We later moved to the upstairs of another house, near the water, where we lived together until we both got married. Our weddings were in weeks of each other, so our RV traveling parents could easily attend both.
I eventually moved to California, and a few years later, as my husband, son, and I were driving cross country to move back to the East coast, Billy and his wife were moving to LA. We were like ships passing in the night.
We kept in touch through phone calls, letters, and photos, along with their rare visits back to the East coast, as our lives moved on with our families and children.
Billy was also a good writer- although his platform was mostly online, with deep, thought provoking, and sometimes radical words. In some ways, he was a better writer than I. As one of his friends said,” he was smart, compassionate, and a critical thinker”- always searching for answers to the world’s problems.
He was a drummer, a music lover, loved old cars, and a loving husband and father of 2 sons.
There are so many memories, but time flies, and the next thing you know, you are old- not in your mind really, but in number of years passing.
In the fall, Billy discovered he had cancer, a rare and aggressive one – mantle cell lymphoma. By the time he realized something was wrong, he may have had it for a while. He and his family explored all avenues for cures, both traditional and naturopathic.
Too quickly, just before Thanksgiving, as the full moon waned, his soul sailed with it. As our mother said, shortly before she passed, “on to the next great adventure…..”
Billy certainly wasn’t ready to go, none of us are, death leaves us emotionally unprepared-as the saying goes, life happens while you are making other plans. My brother is in the next realm, free of pain…..
Sadly, as of this writing, we have lost a lot of community members during this holiday season. Please keep their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Tom Counts, Broadway
Virginia Dove, Fulks Run
Kathy McDorman, Broadway
Charles Day, New Market
Bruce Ritchie, Fulks Run
Nellie Ritchie, Broadway
Alice Hottinger, Broadway/Grottoes
Tennyson Staynor, Fulks Run
Thelma Showalter, Broadway
Pamela Bodkin, Broadway
Tracy Greaver. Timberville
David Sager, Broadway
Sharleen Schlaak, Timberville
Bud Orebaugh, Broadway
Bruce Benishek, Broadway
CT Yankey Jr, Fulks Run
Ronald McPherson, Broadway
Linda Mae Miller, Fulks Run
Erika Dennison, Broadway
Frank Tusing, Broadway
