This passage is from Chapter 10. “In addition to the time he was spending at my home with me and my family, I would hang out at his house something I rarely did except for the occasional family visit on a holiday or special occasion. He was drinking more and as always chain smoked three […]

This passage is from Chapter 10. My father’s reaction to the deaths of my mother and brother was true to form for him. “My father even though he grieved the deaths of my mother and, ultimately, the death of my brother, he never once expressed any regrets or remorse either before or after their deaths […]

My worst fears about my brother’s reaction to our mother’s death in June of 1993 were realized as expressed in these observations, “I tried to be the peace maker between my mother and my brother and had many times warned him that he would regret his actions when she was gone. As I had feared, […]

This passage is from Chapter 10. “In the fall of 1993, my brother decided to take his boat out of Lake George and cruise along the Intracoastal Waterway to Boca Raton, Florida where he had a satellite office for his business. He moved his boat to Albany on the Hudson River and recruited my father […]

This passage is from Chapter 10: My Brother, A Remorseful Man. After my mother’s death, my brother embarked on a year long period of intense grief. I too was upset that she died, of course, but was soon at peace. “By contrast, I loved my mother and, certainly, missed her and grieved her death, but […]

This passage is from Chapter 9. “My mother died in June of 1993 after years of battling breast cancer that metastasized to her bones. During her life she suffered from many other illnesses that caused her to be in a state of almost constant pain. Despite her ailments my mother was the rock, the anchor, […]

I continue Chapter 9, My Brother, An Abusive Man, with these additional observations, “When my brother would start one of his tirades with my mother, it was always a slow burn of hurtful comments and criticisms rather than an explosion of emotional and irrational accusations as was the case when my father and mother would […]

This passage is from Chapter 9. “My relationship with my father went through many phases and was far different than my brother’s relationship with him. Even though my father never tormented me directly, as I grew older, I took his abuse of my mother as a personal affront that I could not ignore or forget. […]

This passage is from Chapter 9: My Brother, An Abusive Man. “Despite the teasing he suffered at the hands of my father, I believe that my brother looked at my father as a kindred spirit of sorts. My father liked to tell the story of my brother, as a young child, refusing to do something […]

This passage is from Chapter 9. “I would try to rein my brother in, but my mother’s pride and stubborn nature always got the best of her as she would make the attempt to stand her ground by hearing him out. She would say to me if I got involved, “this is between your brother […]