My brother died in hospital in Winnipeg on February 15, 2012. Everything shifts. The brother who was always there, from the time I was two, is gone. He was such a gentle man and as a child what one heard so often was what a nice boy he was. A nice boy. Well, he had his moments, ganging up with my younger sister to fight with me. What did we all fight about? It's hard to know now, so long ago were those days. We also played together and either protected or admired each other.
The paths of children raised in northern mining towns often diverged as we grew up and went away to school, to work and/or to get married. Very few returned to live in the place where we shared our childhood. Though many of us have visited and remarked on how things have changed. The underground mine that has become an open pit. The houses that have been torn down. How the town thrives through an economic downturn because of the discovery of more gold..
If someone has a brother or sister there, they are just as likely to have another in some other part of Canada. Or elsewhere. Thus I happen to have a sister in Vancouver and until yesterday had a brother in Winnipeg. Stretched out across the continent from where I live in Toronto. Nonetheless we three siblings have grown closer again in these later years when we could travel more and had also the benefit of Skype, email, Facebook, etc.
It is a sad day. Such a nice boy, yes. Such a gentle and loving man.
No comments:
Post a Comment