March 20, 2016- My Brother’s Memories

When we were watching a commercial for a violent video game, Mike mentioned how the ones that we played as kids were never this way. He told me that Cindy and Jessica had given him a game called Gopher. I hadn’t even remembered that it even existed.

   He has been strolling down memory lane lately. He hadn’t really been doing so that much before this. Of course, he seems to bring up the bad ones more than the good, like incidents in which his classmates picked on him. I knew about some of them but not others.

   He said that he was punched on the shoulder once. Another time, kids dared him to beat up another classmate but he didn’t do so. He told me about additional incidents that I can’t really recall right now. It is terrible that kids can be so cruel to one another.

   Mike was also a member of the CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) in grade school. I hadn’t remembered this until he recently mentioned that they went to a Yankees vs. Red Sox game and also a NJ Nets one.

   He said that we celebrated New Year’s Eve at the Bailey’s (our family friends) house in the 1970s. He mentioned that we popped balloons then. This definitely is not in my memory bank. I wish that I had more such happy times in there. The unpleasant things seem more abundant and vivid, unfortunately.

   One of these that he reminded of me was a 4^th of July incident. We were at our friend’s house for the traditional celebration when Mom’s migraine headache was so bad that Dad had to take her to the ER. After they returned, Mom had to take a nap. She was so out of it from the shot that they gave her. This was very upsetting.

     When I tell him about some of my childhood memories, he says that he can’t remember those. I guess that even though we shared experiences, there will be some that we can’t recall or we will recollect different aspects about them.

   Maybe in the afterlife, our spirits will be able to revisit our past and witness these moments. That is just a part of my somewhat crazy afterlife fantasy. I don’t talk to my brother about such things because he might think that this is foolish. I share them with Sharon who always says that she likes them and hopes that they will be a reality then.