This is the post I have been dreading for a long time now. Any of you who really know me might know that I have an older brother with ALS ( Lou Gehrig's disease ). Anyhow, he passed away while I was on a photo shoot in Texas last Thursday morning. I got the call around eight in the morning that he had passed away in his sleep at my parents house. My parents, my sister and I have been looking after him for nearly seven months. I got him up every morning and put him to bed every night. I feel a great deal of personal sorry for all the family he left behind, however, I am happy for my brother because he is with God and his suffering is now over.
My brother was a medical microbiologist with a brilliant mind and a great sense of humor. He was unhappily married, but stayed because of his two children that he adored. His only solace was his guitar which he used to play in the basement of his house. The disease attacked his hands first, robbing him of his ability to play. It also attacked his feet and legs causing him to limp and then be confined to a wheel chair. Next to go were his talking and eating capabilities. He had to go on a feeding tube and have a breathing tube installed. Now the one thing this disease does not attack is the mind, it stays tack sharp. The frustration my brother had to endure just to try to communicate was almost unbearable to watch. He battled this disease for six years, the average life expectancy is only eighteen months.
We will be having a service for him next Saturday at my mum's church and I think then everything will really sink in. I am a bit numb inside but mostly I am happy for my brother and so very proud of him. My fondest memory of him will always be when he could still walk, he was down visiting from Ohio. He saw my Speedmaster and was watching me wash it and we were talking. I threw him the keys and said "go for it". Now , the disease had already set in and he had a slight limp, but he got on the bike with my helmet and leather jacket. Long story short, He is gone for around ten to fifteen minutes, my dad and I are starting to worry, when I can finally hear the pipes as he comes back into the neighborhood with the biggest sh%$#t eating grin on his face. God, that was a priceless moment!!! The next visit, he could no longer ride and really couldn't talk but I relive that moment alot in my head and that is how I will remember him. So anyhow, please say a prayer for him and our family this week and thank you for being part of my extended family.. I think now I am going to go take a ride and celebrate my brother's life... ride safe... Gordon
