I had a long day at work on Tuesday. I arrived home, prepared dinner for my spouse and myself, then went to the basement to relax. I was so beat, I fell asleep in my spouse’s arms.
About 8pm, my spouse shook me awake. I thought he would suggest that we go to bed early. However, he said, “someone’s at the door.” My spouse never answers the doorbell, ever, so I went up and was flabbergasted when…
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I received an email from someone who stumbled upon this blog. The subject line for the message was “pride.” The writer commented that…
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This is the final post in my series describing my life after high school, through college, in the working world, and in finding my calling for caregiving.
This post is about the other half — the non-working — world of my life. Experts say that…
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Today is our birthday — the date when my twin brother was born four minutes after me. (And I won’t let him forget that I’m older!)
Today, I am skipping recognition of my birthday, and extending all my love to the best half of that egg that split soon after we were conceived.
Why am I skipping my birthday?
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Hey there, this is J. I am BHD’s twin brother. My wife and I are visiting him again this Christmas. It has been a much better visit than last year, when I came after the holiday to spend a month helping to care for my brother-in-law during about the worst of the downside of a relapse of his ongoing infections.
This year, once again, I am watching the most expert organizer and a man of exceptional patience “do his thing.” What’s up?
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I have mentioned before that my twin brother lives with his wife in Italy. He retired from full-time employment three years ago.
Restless to return to doing good after retirement, he was accepted by a prestigious voluntary agency based in Europe to serve as a volunteer and to help people build communities with more substantial and sustainable infrastructure. He also teaches English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Greek, Polish, Amharic, Urdu, Farsi, Arabic, or whatever else works where he volunteers. He is an amazingly gifted man.
I cannot believe that the last time I saw him was in May when he came home to rescue me in the midst of a medical crisis with my spouse. Then almost as soon as he returned to Italy, he…
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Come this Saturday, my twin brother will be celebrating his birthday. This is my special wish for him…
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Yesterday, Monday, I had the sad experience of driving my twin brother back to the airport for a long flight for him to return to his home in Italy. He has been here for one week … and, as usual, I could not have survived without him.
Words cannot express…
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Hi, this is BHD’s twin brother J.
As you have been reading between the lines on this blog, my brother’s husband has taken a serious turn for the worse. On Saturday morning while my brother was involved in a community event that he could not cancel, our sister was staying with his husband “just in case.” We are very glad she was there, because by noon, she couldn’t rouse him, then when he finally came to, he could not move. Literally paralyzed.
Our sister called for an ambulance and then called my brother. My brother immediately drove home and met the ambulance as it was arriving. The medics who knew my brother strongly recommended that his husband go to the hospital, because his condition was more than symptoms of his persistent illness. They were worried that it would affect his ability to keep breathing.
With my brother and sister behind them, lights and sirens blaring, they went to their closest hospital. As my sister was driving, my brother called me and broke down, literally. I could hear him yelling at traffic, “we’re with that ambulance! Get out of the way!”
I was glad our sister was there to drive him, because he was not in shape to drive himself. The call ended quickly. I asked him to call me back once he knew what was going on.
I hugged my wife and said, “you know [BHD] would be here if you were in that serious condition, so I am going back home to be with him and try to help out. Allow my brother to get some rest and even go to work, since he can’t take too much time off or risk losing a job that he loves.”
As you read this, I am on a plane somewhere between Rome and Dulles Airport. I was lucky to grab the last seat on a non-stop flight. Another sister will meet me and take me wherever I need to be — either at the hospital or at my brother’s house provided his husband is stable and back at home.
Man, it’s been so rough for my brother-in-law and his very worried, yet patient caregiver husband, my brother. Pray for peaceful recovery.
As my brother would say, “life is short — show those you love how you love them. Be there!”
I have been posting the past few days about my trip west, but I am interrupting these stories to say goodbye, for now, to the best guy on the planet, the universe, and beyond.
Who? Why?
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