into_the_wild

:: B + A + W ::

My brother Bren enlists this Thursday.

I made a note in my Gcal - 4 June 2009.

I took leave from work, in fact.

So that I could see B off

At his ‘Enlistment Ceremony’ of sorts.

It will be a major milestone in his life

And I am happy to be part of it.

There were no silver spoons in our family.

And when dad passed away, a decade ago,

B, at a young age, had to learn

How to grow up without a father.

And I, not exactly old, but older,

Had to learn, to be

A better brother.

Sometimes, I wonder, as I look back the years

If I did a good job as a brother.

I believe I could have done more

Beyond the weekly personal tuition,

The pocket money, and being a role model

That B can respect, and emulate.

I wonder.

I always remember the conversation we had

At the TPY Swimming Pool.

I questioned B about his future,

And how he would go about achieving it.

The road was windier than anyone expected

But B is at a good juncture, and I know from his entry

That B remembers the pool talk, vividly.

Isn’t is funny, how feelings and emotions

Are expressed by not expressing them, but

Discerned, felt, and hence, connected?

The regular meals between Bren, Angela and me

Are looked forward, and enjoyed.

Perhaps childhood hardships bond siblings.

I treasure them deeply.

And thus, as I ready to bid B a good journey

To the next phase of his life,

I beseech all, to pause, and examine

His or her unexamined part of life.

To love his or her siblings, and family

For, there may be less time than what we

Think, there is.