<p>I lost my oldest brother to ALS 12 years ago. One of the most difficult things for me has been to witness my parent’t grief and sadness at losing a child. And even after all these years I still want to tell my brother things or share something I find funny ( we shared the same sense of humor) and then remember that I can’t. It is very painful.</p>
<p>We lost our dear brother 7 years ago. We still struggle with it. We lost our mom last year, and it is her birthday tomorrow, so my sister and I went to our family grave yesterday. I find that every time we go to the grave, instead of talking about Daddy, who’s been gone 22 years, or even Mom, only gone a year, we talk instead of my brother, who left us suddenly after his 40th birthday. We have become very close to his child that he discovered after she was already 4, and it has been wonderful to see her baby pictures, as she looks just like him when he was a baby. My mother always said that one good thing came out of my brother’s death, that it brought all of the siblings, the remaining 4, closer. After Hurricane Katrina, we were all so scattered, and I hadn’t even seen my late brother for 2 years. Now we make sure we touch base with each other when we can, and not let the time slip away. My brother’s widow moved on in her life, as we expected she would, and we didn’t even see our “legitimate” nieces and nephews for a few years before my Mom’s death, but have since reconnected, as his kids are in high school now, and hope we can have a good relationship with them into the future. Before my Mom’s death, it was very hard on us not seeing our nieces and nephews, making the pain of missing our brother even harder, but I had always hoped that when they reached adulthood, or graduated high school, we would have a relationship with them without their mother. We try, but are not pushy. We’re there for them if they need us, but we know they have a new life with their mom and their school friends. Keeping you in my prayers. Just know that you will see your brother again. It is that faith that keeps me going.</p>
<p>One of my dearest friends lost both her siblings this past year. They died within a few months of each other. Overnight my friend became an only child. She will never be the same. But she is a fighter, and yes, she will survive.</p>
<p>^^^Gosh, bless her heart. I can’t even imagine.</p>