Of brothers and men…
Today was a busy run around town kinda day. It started with my younger son making omlettes for his uncle, himself, and me at 9a. Actually, it started 2.5 hours earlier when I could not sleep any more — kinda sucks when your body is so used to getting up at 6:30a that even on the weekends it ‘wakes up’ at 6:30a and going back to sleep just doesn’t work (actually, 6:30a is sleeping in for me; before I started in treatment, I would get up at 5:30a so I could work out at least 3 days a week — unfortunately, when I’m ‘plugged in’ it’s best if I don’t sweat and get my bandages all wet, so I really have to limit my exercising).
This week is scout summer camp for my boys’ troop at Camp Rainey Mountain. My younger son’s best friend is also in the same troop and his father and my very good friend, Luis, and I drove my sons, his son, and one other boy from the troop up to Rainey Mountain today. It’s only about 2 hours, but that means 4+ hours in the car today. I have said it before and I’ll continue to say it: I am very lucky to have Luis as my friend; he showed me how much fun scouting can be and has become invaluable in my life. Thus, a large portion of my day today was spent driving. <sigh>
But above all, today, in particular and this weekend, in general, was great because my brother, Sid, and his son have been visiting. In fact, they were supposed to leave earlier this morning, but late last night my brother decided to spend another day here. I love my job at the CDC, but I have to say that the challenge is being so far away from my family / siblings. I love all of my sibs, but I seem to have a stronger bond with Sid, due in part to the fact that we have the same kind of warped sense of humor.
It has been great having Sid here. He was invaluable in completing the swing set (I’ll have pictures in the next day or so). More than that, though, it has been really helpful just having him here. We have always had a healthy sibling…rivalry is not quite the right word, but we have had a fair share of competition. I have always wanted to be like my big brother Sid. When he had an afro, I grew and afro (somewhere there is a picture, but I was unable to find it for this posting; I’m sure if it becomes available, I’ll rush to post it: it was a high point in my fashion evolution). He was a drummer in high school, so I became a drummer in high school.
I have always looked up to my big brother (even when I got taller than him). I look at his life and only see him as someone who is successful in his business (he’s a high muckity-muck in charge of, among other things, E-commerce for Children’s Place department stores). He lives in a beautiful house with three great kids and a loving wife. I wish I was more like him. I don’t know if Sid will ever appreciate how much he has meant to me over the years and how much his love and support has meant to me more recently, but I think he wouldn’t change even if he DID know. Thank you, Sid, for your love, your friendship, your help!
Until tomorrow…
Merle
A couple of disjointed thoughts and some pictures from the Relay for life. First, my family (my fathers side of it at any rate) gets together each summer at Wildwood Crest, NJ for a week of beach vacationing. Last year, we (the Merle Hamburger clan) planned to join the rest of Clan Hamburger in NJ, but I was in the hospital with an angry gall bladder and what would eventually be diagnosed (8 months later) as pancreas cancer (a bit extreme to get out of a going to a family get together, if you ask me). One event, among many, that I miss is the Saturday evening steamed crab and corn on the cob meal. I love sitting on the roof deck of the Astronaut Motel powering through several dozen steamed blue crab.



On the off chance that some of you felt that perhaps I was too serious in the image I shared yesterday, I wanted to share this image with you as well. The hat was given to me by Cathy, a friend through a mutual acquaintance. The hat serves dual purposes: (a) It was the hat Cathy wore when she went with her son’s boy scout troop on trips (so it’s got good scout mojo) and (b) it helps keep the sun off my head and neck (not that the redneck look isn’t in down here in the south, but…besides, Dr. Kauh did say that the chemo would make me photosensitive, so it’s better to be safe than sorry).