Long Lost Relatives...

Professor Mel

Hello everyone:



With a show of hands, I'd like everyone who has a family member that they don't stay in touch with, to raise their hand. Uh huh, that many of you, huh? Yes, I saw you in the back hiding behind the man with the stovepipe hat. Abraham, is that you? Humph...



Well you've probably figured out today's topic. Long lost relatives. Today is my older brother's 66th birthday and I know his birthday every year, because I'm a numbers kind of guy. Why these useless numbers are stuck in my head for a lifetime is beyond me, but there they stay waiting for a chance to come out. If anyone ever asks me what my address was when I was 4 years old, 309 S. Central Park will come blurting out uncontrollably. I have numbers Turrets!



Getting back to my long lost brother and his family... Knowing that today is his birthday and knowing that it's been 35 years since I've called him, I finally took the plunge and reached out. I tried looking for him on Facebook of all places, but there too many with his common name, so I narrowed it down by listing his/our high school and he came popping up with a picture and everything. At first I didn't recognize him and my reaction was, "That's not him". Then inspecting further and adding the missing 35 years to him, I realized it was him looking back at me from the page. WOW, I found him!



So I typed out a brief email message and to my surprise, he not only responded, but was happy to hear from me. Here's what happened....



It was 1974 and we were all sitting at the table in Skokie, Illinois at my parent's house for Friday night dinner, a regular thing in our family. I was married to my first wife and had 2 little sons. I announced that we were moving to Arizona and waited for the congratulations, but instead my brother and his wife kind of dumped on us for doing something so foolish. I took offense but didn't get too bent out of shape. Eventually things came together for us and we sold our house and business and were headed to AZ for a new life. I was thrilled! When I got here, I worked hard to prove myself and eventually became successful and was totally self supporting and putting money away too.



My parents were going to Las Vegas and we were to meet them there and I called my brother to find out what hotel they were staying at. I don't remember if I spoke with him or just left a message, but he never called me back and pretty soon it was 35 years later and still no brother calling me. See, things like that just happen if you let it and pretty soon, just 35 years later, you're sorry. So let this be a lesson to you! .............and me.