My brother Rich

Yesterday was not a particularly good day for me. It wasn't terrible but definitely emotional and kinda depressing. I realized on my way to bible study that it was the one year anniversary that my half-brother passed away. Richard was only in our lives for about 2 1/2 years (long story, I'll tell you if you ask me) and we were all psyched to finally have a brother! :) I'd always wanted one, esp an older one, so when we found out we had one yes it was a shock but also really cool. Rich had a lot of health problems when we met so even when we were together for holidays or vacations, etc he spent a lot of time alone in his room. It was kind of hard to understand but it became normal after awhile.

     It was obvious that we were family because we meshed so quickly. It was almost weird how fast we hit it off! I was so happy about having a big bro. I'm still very happy for the time we had together although sometimes I wonder why God allowed us to meet him just to take him away. I may never know why so I'll just appreciate the times we DID have. It's hard to think about the week leading up to his death because all we knew was that he'd went to the hospital due to some chest pain and just "not feeling right." He seemed to be doing better and about to come home when he suddenly went into a coma and never recovered. We all left immediately, except for dad who was in Africa at the time, and drove to Ohio. I think we were there 2 days before he died. Once dad got there and we all went in to say our last goodbye's individually, they shut off his life support and we sang while he passed away. I think he only lived for like 10-11 min once they took him off the ventilator. It was really sad. I've never cried so much in my entire life. All I wanted was to be able to tell him one last time how much I loved him. I believe that he heard every one of us when we gave him our last goodbye's. They say hearing and touch are the last two things to go.

       I will always remember you Rich, and I'll cherish the moments we had together. I know that we had a special connection. I'll always remember the time we prayed together before I moved to Illinois and how you said that you know I'm going to meet my husband and you prayed about that for me. You prayed for me a lot and you got to see those prayers answered first hand. How cool is that?! Pretty dang cool. You were an awesome brother and I wish we would've had more time together. I <3 you and I'll see you soon ;)
     PS. the colors I'm using are in his memory b/c he was a huge Ohio State fan :)