Last week there was a tragedy in my family. I unexpectedly lost my older brother, a father of four kids, and a Desert Storm Marine Force Recon veteran. He was someone everyone who had met him instantly looked up to without even knowing his background. He also had an amazing sense of humor which came off with his towering figure. He was someone who lived up to every legend you see in the movies but was actually a real person that somehow actually existed and you could touch and feel. Yet through some miracle I will never quite understand, he was my brother and the inspiration, or rather the reason why I often do the things I do—someone I rough-housed with and chased around the yard as kids and he would pretend to let me beat him up, although once he did scare me when I was very little and I hit him over the head with aluminum baseball bat, knocking him unconscious. However, even moments like that didn’t seem to slow him down.
He had seen many dangerous adventures, most of which we will never know of. He loved this country through all of its imperfections, loved his family, loved fellow veterans, the people he had in the field, and loved serving this nation. Most importantly he loved his kids.
I had planned a lot more topics to write prior to this, but it’s moments like these which puts a spotlight on our lives and what truly matters most. It makes whatever I wanted to write seem completely trivial and petty.
On the other hand, I also knew him and well I knew he wasn’t one to wallow in grief or would want others too. Some moments like this when I’m alone, thinking of him is very difficult, but then my little kids remind me that we have to move forward and try to live our lives as they don’t understand the loss nor would I want them to. So I have to get through this, try to support my parents, his wife, his four children, and also take care of my own family. This is going to be a rough road ahead and I can’t pretend to know how to navigate these unchartered waters, but if my brother could have done the things that he was able to accomplish, it’s something I can at least try to do to honor to the best of his memory.
There’s a big hole in my heart and Idon’t know how to fill it. Sometimes it’s just simply just meant to be.
We will always love you Mike.
-Semper Fi
