Brothers

🌤️

I knew your name only as an echo,

a thread pulled through years I couldn’t see.

Yet somehow, I kept an open space in my heart~~

a quiet chair, an untouched cup,

a story missing its other chapter.

And then, one day you appeared,

as a heartbeat I recognized .

Your smile carried the shape of home.

Your laugh unlocked a room

I didn’t know I’d locked.

We stood there - two branches

finally remembering the same root

How strange, how simple,

how holy it felt

to look at you and see

not a stranger,

but the return of a missing season.

Joy sometimes rise slowly, like dawn ``

soft at first, then undeniable,

filling every corner

with the warmth of what was lost

and is no longer lost.

Brother ~~

the word fits again.

And in its shape

We become whole again.

...................

Sometimes its not what comes back...but WHO!

Up to the age of my mid-twenties, I had not met my oldest brother. My father's oldest son.

His mother had long ago sailed away with him - maybe before I was even born - or maybe I was too young to remember him, I'm not quite sure. But I was told that they went far away to a distant land.

I knew him only by name, and a single photograph in an old book.

The years flew by...life carried on like it always does with no contact or communication from him. We spoke of him often, using his nickname...which I eventually found out that he dislikes immensely. So that was the end of that.

Then one day, during that twenty some or so years which I previously mentioned, my sister calls me at work..

Come home to meet our brother - he has, without any previous notice, magically turned up on our doorstep.

And so I hurried home to meet my long lost older sibling, fully expecting a long and favorable sibling reunion.

But it was bitter sweet - he could only stay for a little while - He was simply on his way to distant places...

Just stopped by to say hi....and off he went again. Imagine our collective disappointment. But we accepted and appreciated his short visit.

I didn't know then that he thought we had abandoned him...that my father had forgotten all about him. But we had not, we were just struggling to survive, and as mentioned before...we spoke of him often.

In between him and myself, were two other brothers

One left for a while...he returned home ill and soon passed away

Brothers...they come and go.

Life got cluttered and busy again...oldest brother again became a distant memory...a few letters...he moved, forgetting to inform us...

Then the years too, again forgot.

But, I remembered.

I searched high and low to find him. I phoned, emailed, texted and passed messages to everyone I could contact. Someone, I figured - must be able to find a glimmer of the existence of this enigmatic brother.

My perseverance paid off. My cousin, the travelling preacher, had a religious appointment to preach at a church in Canada.

Lo and behold. It was my brother's church. I kid you not.

My oldest brother too, was a pastor of his church...so strange how life works sometimes. They both met, cousins, not realizing they were related until they came face to face and exchanged family history.

Drawn together by sheer chance? Or was the universe answering my request...granting me a small win on the way to discovery.

It seemed nothing short of miraculous...this unplanned meeting...this gift of the universe, which answers us sometimes if we are lucky.

We got in touch through my cousin, the pastor...after a series of missed calls and serious clarifications of who I was... I spoke with him...

I spoke with his mother, a kind soul...

He had lost a son...bless his soul -

I was not to meet my nephew in this life.

But still... now we are much older and hopefully, much wiser people. Willing to sit and listen to what the other side has to say.

We have finally found our complete family...as complete as families can be.

We have come back full circle.

Willing to forgive and forget the pauses in-between our lives.

A small win. A great life achievement.

It is never too late for a family reunion.

And a prayer for those gone before.