My Brainiac Brilliant Brother

LOOKS KINDA LIKE A HIPPIE, DON'T HE?

This IS my brother, Doug. I love him. He arrived Tuesday with two of his three kids and his girlfriend, Sara, fr0m Ottawa, for summer vacation. Doesn't he look at least a bit like John Lennon?

And I hope to soak up every available minute I can with him. He looks a bit more like this now (pictured below with my mom).


But I'll still always remember him more as this, the independent, free-thinking, far-more-conscientious-guy-than-me Doug who always goes beyond the surface...

He's an intellectual, far more intelligent than I am, a true deep thinker.

He was the school president, he made Chief Petty Officer at Navy League in the sea cadets while I was just a joking Acting Petty Officer...

I was the oldest of six kids, he was No. 2. I was into all the sports and a troublemaker, he was the "good kid" compared to me, he always got the better marks in school...

He was the voice of reason while I was just the Loud Voice of Chaos...I respect him so much for what he's been through, where he's gone, what he's lost and found again and what he's become.

One of his most salient comments ever, which I will always remember, is when he told me: "There is Love in Silence."

We are two different breeds of cat. But we are inexorably linked together.

Welcome home, Doug.