A Difficult Time

My brother, Nick, died 2 weeks ago today - only 52, he'd not been too well, and earlier in the year, he had a couple of minor heart attacks and triple heart bypass surgery. He was on the mend when we had a phone call from Elizabeth, his wife, to say she had found him dead in bed. Heart failure. Very sad.

So Dad and I flew to Cincinnati, which is where Nick had lived for 5 years, for the funeral.We stayed in the Hyatt Place Hotel, which was funky, clean and with very friendly staff and a nice pool, good breakfasts and comfy beds for 3 nights, and got through the whole ordeal somehow.

At the funeral ceremony itself, I had been charged with the responsibility of welcoming the guests and speaking on behalf of the family.

A little nerve-wracking and upsetting, I just made it through to the end of my prepared speech, and then had to gather myself to introduce the next speaker, Rick, who was Nick's boss and good friend at Pilot Chemical where he worked.

He said many good things about the brother I didn't know, as did Steve, a darts buddy of Nick's who spoke on behalf of many other friends, all of whom, it seems, are going to miss him terribly.

There was a lot to my brother I didn't know - I always thought him to be a bit of an edgy guy who was not such easy company. It was really nice to discover that he was loved by a whole load of folks in the US, who said that he was a great guy - he got on with everyone he spoke to. I wish I had known this before.