Hello Gary. Your words of love about your brother, Dale, flow from the page like the sweetest of wine mixed with the ache of regrets.
What causes estrangement in families? Only God knows. My uncles had not seen each other since 1967 when their mother passed away at the age of 96; Uncle Nate was 51 at the time; Uncle Ted 63. Uncle Ted passed away last year at the age of 105 in Cody, Wyoming. Nate and Ted had not said a single word to each other in all of those years: No cards, no letters, no phone calls, no visits.
Uncle Nate is now almost 94. He, too, was a pilot starting with a Cessna, ending with a 707 Boeing jet liner. He always owned his own “bird” up until a few years ago when the hangar space became too expensive there in Omaha.
After my sister Helen died four years ago, my sister Cajun quit speaking to me. You see, “the wrong sister died”. I do not know what happens in families. Like I said, only God knows.
It surely does not keep the pain from hurting any less.
I am sorry for your loss. He was a good brother who heard other voices, followed other winds, climbed other peaks, and carried his secrets alone. God bless.
