Ken and Don his brother, buddy, and best friend...
This past week has been an emotional one. Ken's brother Don Passed away. We got the call in the early morning. It was a shock. We both just sat unbelieving and tried to wrap our minds around it. Ken has now lost 4 of his 7 brothers. I think that is one of the hardest parts about being the baby of the family. You usually watch your siblings die one by one and it stinks.
Ken and Don on their farm in MO.
I was talking to one of Don's daughters on fb last night and she mentioned loving the photos of her Daddy and Kenny. He was always holding an animal of some kind. Don taught Ken to love and care for all kinds of cool creatures. They had the usual chickens, hogs, cows, and such, But they also had pet squirrels, pet raccoons and Ken even had a pet fox. The boys had dogs of every size and description. Ken's Dad trained hunting dogs for the founders of Dr.Pepper. Don taught Ken how to train a bird dog. Many times it was the boys who trained the dogs. To this day you will never find our homes without a couple of little dogs.
one of my favorite photos of Kenny and his big brother Billy and Don
along with a dog and some chickens.
Having been a girl with a brother I know all about them. Strange beings, but for a boy a brother is a myriad of things; Especially an older brother. He is the first friend, He teaches you how to fish with a pole, but first he shows you how to tie a string on a limb. He shows you how to find a cane break and cut your own cane pole. A brother teaches you how to play ball, laugh at girls, and shares his only nickle with you so you can have a coke. He is the one who teaches you to sword fight to save the princess in the tower aka: the barn. He is the one who holds you away from him by your head while you try as hard as you can to punch him, and laughs the whole time. He is also the one who will punch anyone who picks on his kid brother. An older brother is continually pestered by the "kid".. but as he gets older he discovers he really loves that crazy kid.
Ken was blessed to have 7 brothers. All of them older. They made sure Kenny had a cool Western Flyer bike with tanks and baskets. They whittled toys and bought toy tractors and graders. They even bought his first pair of cap pistols. Many a bandit was killed each afternoon when the brothers came home from school.
I could tell you wonderful stories of Ken and his brother Don. Don was next in age to Ken so he was at home longer then the others who had left home to join the Service and raise families. Ken could tell you more. Don would laugh as he told those stories. Some I'm sure Ken wasn't to happy about hearing.. But I rolled. I can just see them on their bikes riding the 14 miles into town to see a cowboy movie. I can hear the laughter as they teased the girls with worms and snakes.
As we talked the other night Ken looked at me with a heart so broken and grieving.. He told me.."I would give anything to have my brother back".. I know he would.. They didn't see each other much. Visiting just isn't something Ken does. The boys would talk on the phone. I always loved to answer the phone and hear "Hey is fat boy there" that was their phone name for each other when calling. I know that it would take only a call from Don for Ken to be there. I think he knew that too.
Tomorrow is visitation for family and friends at the funeral home. It will be a long day for the family. Tuesday we will say our last goodbyes. It will be an incredibly hard time for all the family. To know that there will be no more drop in visits or phone calls for fat boy is difficult. I am comforted by the knowledge that Don loved and accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I know that we will see him again someday. I will always see his smile and hear his laughter in my memories. I will make sure I continue to share the stories of Ken and his brothers with our grandkids and their children. I am so glad for the wonderful memories that all the brothers share. That helps to keep them alive in our hearts.
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