As I write this my brother is on his way up to Alabama to visit with me for the first time since I moved away over ten years ago. I feel like for the first time in our lives I am meeting him as a man, not my mother's son.
During her life she kept a very tight grip on him, controlling almost every aspect of his life. I hardly spent any time with him during our 56 years together. He lived with me for a short while twice in his life, one of them being during 9/11. He was sleeping on my sofa and I called him from work to let him know the world had changed forever.
Since mom's passing, he and his girlfriend have had the arduous task of making sense of the chaos mom left behind. Countless boxes of her history, lost treasures, and junk. It's odd the things he has come across and the history of my mother we never knew. It's also made me think of what I really need to keep in my home, as one day someone will be going through the boxes and junk of my life. What story will they tell?
In the end I have decided on keeping her wedding gown (Margo my mannequin will love dressing up as a bride), a spaghetti bowl I have always wanted since a child, and a few family photos. Not sure why those things appealed to me, but I am sure as I live with them in my home, their true meaning will make itself known.
So for the first time in our lives, I am meeting my brother as a man. I am excited to get to know him all over again. We truly have come full circle from the kids we used to be to the adults we are now. Older? Most definitely. Wiser? I hope so!
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