My Older Brother-Okay, My Only Brother

My brother, Dale, came down from North Texas for Janet’s memorial service. We got an early start to the service so we stopped at Starbucks in the River Oaks Shopping Center for a cup of Café Mocha. While we were there I shot this photograph. Now I have a feeling that he probably will not be too fond of this photograph, but I am.

Dale Edwin Woodard at Starbucks November 4th, 2010

I have a tremendous respect for my older brother. I love to tell the story that when I turned sixty I sent him a letter and asked when it is that you start feeling old. He is eleven years older than I am and since he hasn’t yet answered my letter I feel that I much have at least another eleven years to go.

I also have among my many theories about life, one that says that each family unit is allotted a certain amount of everything. He got to the table eleven years before I did and took most of the good stuff. That is okay because he is a person that deserves the good stuff as much as anyone I have ever met. We were never close a children because of the age difference. The closeness had to wait until we were both adults. Which accounts for the fact that we are most likely the only siblings you will ever meet that were both raised as an only child. I have always told everyone that I am an only child—with an older brother. We were both spoiled rotten. Of course, I had some advantage there because he had to be creative; whereas all I had to do was to sit back and take notes.

I love my big brother and in this photograph I see a part that I love about him. He is not much of a talker—even less of a writer—but he is a great thinker. When you are around him it can be very quiet and this photograph captures a good deal of what you will see—my big brother deep into his own thoughts. In this case it was probably about how he was going to straighten me out before he had to return to Wichita Falls right after the memorial service. I think he spends a great deal of time mulling that over. LOL I not only love you big brother, I have tremendous respect for you and for the life you live. And even though at eighty-four you look younger than I do, I still hope to grow up to be the man that you are.