Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 February 2007 00:35:32
you dont read this, as fair as I am aware, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATE!
My big bro is 26 tomorrow. I am at home (my mothers) for the weekend as we have his birthday celebration thing tomorrow. I meet his newest lady friend, and her parents, and my parents meet her parents for the first time. They are off on a holiday on Monday for the week. I hope they have a safe and good time. He deserves it.
Each time it gets round to celebrating the fact my brother is one year older, I have to sit back and give thanks to God that he has made it to the age he is at, and pray forwards that he continues to have a happy, healthy and prosperous life. My mum proudly showed me a clip of him on the tv last week, some show interviewed him, and he was in all the local rags, due to his job. He was in one of those day time tv shows, and well its made us all proud. I looked at the picture of him in the local rag and thought "wow" thats my brother.
Thats my brother who 10 years ago wasnt going anywhere, went from school to school, being thrown out of them all, evetnually settling as such at a church school, that had its strictness, but amazing care for pupils.
When my brother was 18 he was fully hooked onto drugs, and was probably selling them by the time he got to 20. I am crap at putting the right timedates and ages to events, so it may not all be quite correct, however, I think he was 21 when he found himself going into some sort of rehab programme for a while, and going off to Australia (we have family there) for a year. It wasnt until many many years later during a heartbreaking chat with my mum did I find out she fully expected him to die out there, either from drug misuse or his eating disorder. How heartbreaking must that have been for a mother, to say bye to a child, and not think they would be back... I cant imagine it ...
However, he did come back, and it hasnt been an easy ride, in fact there always seems to be an up and down going on, BUT he did come back, he found a job, got a flat. Started to live life a little bit differently to before. Yeah we were all on tenterhooks when he decided to settle back into the same home town, with the same crowd around, but amazingly, and personally, this has to be a God thing, his other "drug buddy" also came clean while my brother was out of town. Maybe not being in each others influence helped?! They are now firm friends, they now both have jobs, living places, cars, careers, friends and are sucessful. They are both clean, totally, with my brother decided to give up his one little vice every now and then at christmas. My brother has been the circle, from soft , to hard, to hard and selling, back to soft, to nothing, and how proud of that am I !!!!
I have to write this out sometimes, to process in my head how proud I am. Proud of my brother, that he is where he is. So, if you will, on the 18th feb, sunday here, raise a glass to my brother. I will be doing.