Baptisms, Snow and Rock and Roll

The days had gotten warmer the last few weeks and all the snow was melted in the neighborhood.
Yesterday you could see all the grass in the front yard for the first time since November.

This morning...

A wintery view again.
I LOVE waking up to a view of winter wonderlands first thing in the morning.
And views with cats too, of course.

Such a new experience for me.

I wonder if I will eventually take it for granted.

I've never been one to not make a picture in my heart and mind of wonderful things every chance I get.

Snow is a wonder for today.

Another wonder is seeing family on Youtube.

Our son's baptism for one.

It is a pretty long video, but you can see and hear Jeff talk about his faith (at the 1 min. 26 second mark) see Rachel and him arriving (at 9 min 13 sec.) and see him go under the water and come up again (at 11 mins.) , along with others who partook of that sacrament on that Sunday afternoon.

The other is revisiting a happy memory from long ago...from a time when MTV was a brand new channel on television.

It was 1983.

The kids were 3 and 5, and I did NOT want them to be watching bands like Alice Cooper and Kiss rocking out.

But...

suddenly...

their Uncle Mark was playing drums on a video that was on rotation on the channel.

It was a pretty darn cute video too.

We let the kids watch their Uncle's band, of course.

And turned channels immediately afterwards.

The video is now on Youtube, and seeing it again brought back SO many funny memories.

You see, lil' bro Mark was a serious professional drummer for years before becoming a Radiology Therapist. He played with several bands and was cited in Rolling Stone magazine as one very hot drummer.

Drummer praise doesn't come from a source higher than that!

During the years that the incredibly talented and handsome Mark was on percussion, his big bro Bernie was juggling being an electrician, going to school at night, and being a daddy to two little kids.

Once, during that season of life, when we were over at Mark and Bernie's parents house, my MIL turned to Bernie and asked him if he had had a chance to go see Mark performing in some local venue.

I can still remember how hard it was not to laugh when Bernie dryly replied:

"When Mark comes to watch me at my work, then I'll be going to see Mark at his work."

(I'm pretty sure Mark never did make it out to watch Bernie at his construction site...)

By way of updating those who wonder how Mark is doing...he is home now, and struggling to recover from the massive abdominal surgery he had two weeks ago. Several organs were removed, but they were not able to get all the cancer...he will begin intense radiation and chemo as soon as they can identify exactly the kind of cancer he has.

We think about Mark all the time...sometimes with worry, sometimes with fear, and sometimes...well, you know some 50 plus years of being a big brother is hard to let go.

As soon as Mark came out of surgery and we knew that he was OK, I mentioned that he must have a massive abdominal scar, similar to the one that I sport on my low belly.

Recalling the inquires I faced after my surgery, I voiced a similar concern to Bernie:

"Do you think Mark will still be able to wear a bikini style swim suit?"

(like he EVER did...)

To which B. replied without missing a beat:

"No, he doesn't have the guts for it anymore."

Somethings in life, like capping on your little brother, just never change.