My Brother...

In Memory Of My Brother

Bryan

03-12-1980 - 04-27-2011

I really don't even know where to start with this post...so it may be scattered.

On April 27th, storms ripped across the state of GA and during those storms we got the call that my younger brother Bryan went home to be with the Lord. It was just his time to go...that's the only way it can be explained.  It's something we will never understand and it's something we will probably never get over.

Today's Monday. When I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, this is the first day of our new way of living. Today, we are suppose to move forward and get back to school, work, and every day life just like everyone around us ,but that's easier said than done. Our world has been rocked and this new way of living hurts....really bad.

However, this hurt is not new to us. We've been down this road before when we lost my brother Robby in 2005. It was devastating, just like this. Robby left a hole in our hearts that we still haven't gotten over and I guess we never will.

I just never imagined something like this would happen and that my parents would have to give up another child. No,not again and not the "baby" of our family. Bryan was still young. He had his whole life before him (we thought). He was laid back and humble... both of my brothers were very laid back, more so than I am.

Bryan, he lived a simple life and it didn't take much to make him happy. You never saw Bryan without a smile on his face. He never said much ,but he always wore that smile that everybody knew him for. He never walked in the room without giving me a hug and saying "Hey Sis" and " love you"...he was just sweet like that. I was blessed to be his sister.

I was for sure Bryan would outlive us all ,because he was in perfect health. He was active & full of life. His life consisted of  fishing, sports, biking, scrapping, and spending time with our family & friends. His dad was his best friend and his life revolved around both of our parents. He still lived at home with them and spent almost every free second with them. So as you can imagine my parents are lost without him.
Watching my parents go through this has been the hardest of it all for me. It's really hard to be around them right now because I just can't stand seeing them hurting and knowing I can't say or do one thing to make it any better. But, It's also hard for me to leave them because I know they need me now more than ever before.
I've been asked several times, "What can I do?", over these last few days and my answer has been the same. There really is nothing anyone can do except keep our family in your prayers. Just knowing that people are thinking of us and praying for us means more than anything.

This song makes me think of the relationship between my mom and Bryan. Mom waited a long time after me to have another baby and when Bryan came along he was just as the song describes "The Baby" of our family.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,and he will direct thy paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6