my brother and i shared so much in our childhood ... immigrating from Finland, an alcoholic father, the divorce of our parents, mother's re-marriage and 4 younger sisters from that marriage ... then as adults we shared love and concern for our dad ... and his death from cancer in 2001, which entailed a 5 month hospital stay ...
we lived in the same town for 7 years, then leo and i moved back to the prairies ...
that was 15 years ago ...
well - my brother has now officially moved back to the prairies too! it all happened suddenly ... as of thursday, he is only an hour away from us ... in the city!
i am thrilled to bits about it, and thanked the Lord for this kindness ...
i will probably only see him a few times a year - but i love the fact he is near ... :o) ...
A sibling may be the keeper of one's identity,
the only person with the keys to one's unfettered, more fundamental self.
~Marian Sandmaier
17 comments:
Hey Saija,
Hope you have a great year.....
Dear Saija..What a treat that your brother lives so close to you now and in the prairies an hour is not far away at all!
I remember when we lived in Rivers which was about 33 miles from Brandon, we would think nothing of driving to Portage.
With the flat land it just seemed like a skip and a jump away, and sometimes when we went to Roseisle it was the same thing.
I remember one Sunday afternoon, Betty and her friend, Eunice Moon who were living in Brandon decided to drive to Calgary for the afternoon just for the ride!
I hope that you guys will see each other more than three times a year, eh?
Saija, are you REALLY 5 foot 2, eyes are blue? I am five foot nine!! I had to wear slippers at our wedding because Bernie is an inch shorter than I am!!
Have a good Lord's Day.. Love Terry
Oh how wonderful indeed!! I hope you will be able to get together more than it appears now. I so miss my brother who is a continent away from me...perhaps someday we will live closer. Of course, then my grandchildren would be a continent away...but I do think I would see my brother a lot more than I ever get to see them...so perhaps someday!
I am so happy for you! God is good.
God's Grace.
Good for you!
I'm not close at all with my siblings but I know there are people who consider them the best friends they could ever have.
That's wonderful--family is wonderful whenever you can get together!
royal ... the very same to you! i can see by your blog that you continue busy as ever! :o)
terry ... well i'm almost 5'2" ... since it's my blog, i thought i'd give myself the extra half inch! :o) ... but not eyes of blue ... and many of my good friends are 5-8 inches taller than me, they do soon forget what a shrimp i am!
elizabeth ... i hope to reconnect with my brother too ... for the near future, he'll be busy settling into his new position ...
corry ... that HE is! All the time! :o)
eija ... i'm the eldest, so i'm still the surrogate mother to most of them ... rather than best buds ...
JB ... family is great ... and the BEST is if they are also the family of God ...
Saija, that photo just made me smile. Thanks for sharing it.
You are blessed to have a brother, and what a gift to have him close by! I'm sure he'll be a regular subject on your blog from now on, yes? :)
Loved the picture! But toally unfair (to the rest of us) that you haven't changed a bit in all those years! :) (BTW I *am* 5 foot two, eyes of blue). :) But anyway, thanks for sharing the story of you and your brother--how fun to have him close by! Blessings, Debra
That is wonderful news! I really miss having my brothers living in the same town as me. Congratulations! Things are really going your way lately. :)
linda ... the memory of time/place, made me smile too ... and he will ALWAYS be my "little" brother! ... and we'll see if our visits become blogable ones ... :o)
debra ... remember i said it was a grainy pic? :o) it's just an illusion! ... and we both belong to the mighty mite club, eh? *laughing*
catherine ... as i recall, you are the only girl in the fam ... whereas my brother is the only boy ... and yes - i will take the "good stuff" coming my way with open arms and enjoy the moments!
That's wonderful news. It's nice to have loved ones nearby, isn't it? What a special picture. Heh. Look how skinny he is. :)
jeanette ... ya, he was 16 going on 17 ... he's not that skinny anymore! :o)
You went to BIBLE COLLEGE?! Where and what years? (I'm so glad about your brother--"I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds all the world's loves in its unworldliness." (Robt. Browning 1812-1889) )
antbk ... i e-mailed you ... :) ... the years were 72-74 ... seems like another lifetime away ... maybe 2-3 lifetimes!
Hi Saija, I'm trying to get caught up on my blog reading. It's wonderful that your brother is so close to you now. I hope you get to see him often.
rita ... he was over last sunday and i chatted with him just last night ... :o)
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