We know that we have been blessed that we might be a blessing to others. Amen.

Family gathering to honor mom on her 90th birthday.

By the time most of you see this posting, I will be well on my way to Louisiana. That's where I am headed on this last Friday in July, the 28th, in this year of 2017. My brother, Victor, and I have been given the responsibility to settle mom's and dad's affairs, and we do so on behalf of our huge blended clan. We will be meeting in the home place there to take care of some preliminary matters. It is pretty amazing to me to think about them being gone. I suppose I had not even thought about how much time I spent conversing with the both of them. There's a noticeable void there. Dad would always talk when he answered the phone but he could tell that mom was anxious for him to hand the phone to her. I think he enjoyed making her wait a minute or two. It was like a little game to them. When mom would come on the line she might say something like this, "I thought your dad was going to talk all day." As dad's hearing got progressively worse, he would try to guess at what you might be talking about. I might say, "We are thinking of maybe coming over next week end." Dad would answer, "Yeah, it's been hot here too." And none of us will ever forget watching the two of them talk to each other. One could tell they likely were not hearing much but they were perfectly happy with whatever they were saying to each other. Nearly every day I'm reminded again of how remarkably blessed we have been to have had such wonderful parents.

Dad, yours truly, the wife, mom, Victor's wife Maria, and Victor.

It was mom's and dad's specific instructions that enlisted Victor and I to oversee things after their passing. He and I are honored to do our best to handle things in the way they wanted them to be done. Like dad, his family has been our family for nearly 40 years. I think that makes us much more than step-brothers. We are committed to doing all we can to preserve this unique family closeness that has been ours for so many years. We are also well aware of how rare this will be if we can hold it all together. In truth, we lost a matriarch and a patriarch that provided the glue. We can't be sure that we will make it happen, but, I have great confidence in Victor, and he has in me, and the two of us will do our very best. You can count on that.

Here's a common scene none of us will ever forget.

Believe me, we hear all the time the many war stories about how these types of things turn out. I tell the one about how a fist fight broke out in front of the casket of the elderly mom in the family. The guy who told me that story said that up until her passing there had never been a problem. The lawyer lady we talked to said she appreciated that we had not been in a hurry. She said she has had families arguing with each other in her office just after the funeral service was concluded. People I talk to say they do not envy Victor and I because of their own personal experience in dealing with this type of situation. Sounds like we are in for a rough ride. Right? I don't think we are deterred in the slightest. Here again, we can't promise the outcome but we can dedicate ourselves to working together to keep crazy stuff like that from happening. I am glad to be working with my brother on this one. We will see it through. Together. Enjoy your Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday, and be sure to tune in next time for whatever shows up on this page. I would tell you but I don't have a clue myself. May God bless each one. Amen. ....More later.