Since we are sharing and all, and I'm in a frank mood due to yesterday's circumstances, I'll share a tiny bit that most don't know.
Yesterday was a very sad day but not in the traditional sense, but in the sadness that is a life wasted and the fervent wish and desire of alternate paths and outcomes. You see, I got a phone call yesterday afternoon from my recently deceased sister's husband. He related that he had just received a phone call from the Sheriff in Roswell letting him know that the body of my brother had just been found. The only info available is just that. Nothing more, not one iota more.
The sadness over the death of my estranged brother is that I've only missed a few things in my life that I would really like to have been very different. Having a brother who actually acted like one is near the top of that list. I'm sad that never happened, I'm sad that he chose a path that put him in prison for 25 years, I'm sad that he got out 5 years ago and never saw fit to call me or let me know in any manner. I'd sad that he spent the last 5 years blaming others for his problems and expecting them to provide solutions for them instead of taking the initiative to fix himself.
My only sadness over his actual death is it removes the tiny little flame of hope that could perhaps be fanned into an actual relationship at some level. I'm not sad that he is dead and expectedly so, he has been homeless, drug and alcohol addicted with no interest in anything but where the next fix could be gotten and he was beyond cruel to my father on his deathbed 2 years ago so this was inevitable in all aspects.
To put the rest of that into perspective requires but a single sentence. The second of my remaining two estranged sisters is squatting in my deceased father's home and I no longer get notices from the court over her challenge to the probate since I declined any of the inheritance and agreed with his wishes to deny her any thing of value.