You tagged Joseph Rasch
It's hard to believe that my brother Joe died a year ago today.
It still doesn't seem real. Even now, I'll frequently think of things that I want to tell him the next time I see him. That is, until my brain remembers he's gone.
I'm not sure the best way to honor the dead. However, writing down our memories of them seems to be one path. To that end, here are some of my memories of Joe.
I don't remember my parents bringing my sisters home from the hospital, as I was too young at the time.
However, I remember when my Mom was pregnant with my brother Joe. And I remember her telling my Dad "it's time" and my Dad taking her to the hospital. And I remember that I felt so nervous to hold him when they brought him home. (I was 8 years old at the time.) He was so little! And he had a soft spot in his head!
When he was a toddler, my sister's would dress him up in floral one piece swimsuits and dresses. He didn't seem to mind, though he'd roll his eyes whenever we brought it up as an adult.
There's video of me somewhere carrying him around on my shoulders in the living room. He was 3 or 4, so I must have been 11 or 12. I tripped and we both fell face first onto the floor. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it was the second scariest accident I caused as a child.
When he was in the fourth grade, he started to experience severe anxiety. So much so that he didn't want to go to school at all. As I recall, my parents didn't put pressure on him to go back. After a few weeks, he was able to recover enough to go back to school. But I think he suffered from anxiety for much of his life.
Like our Dad, Joe was good with working with his hands. He restored a Toyota Landcruiser while in high school. While working full time as a nurse, he restored several houses and turned them for a profit.
We became good friends as adults. Neither of us were big talkers, but we would chat every month or so about relationship troubles, work, and other things going on in our lives. He was one of two people in my life who I felt like I could be completely open with about any topic. I like to think he felt the same way about me.
Although we become closer as adults than we were as children, most of our relationship developed at a distance. One of my hopes was to return to Idaho someday, and spend more time with Joe in person. I thought I had plenty of time, as Joe was ten years my junior.
With luck, the simulation hypothesis is true, and some version of me will get to see some version of him again someday.
Until then, I miss you bro.
It still doesn't seem real. Even now, I'll frequently think of things that I want to tell him the next time I see him. That is, until my brain remembers he's gone.
I'm not sure the best way to honor the dead. However, writing down our memories of them seems to be one path. To that end, here are some of my memories of Joe.
I don't remember my parents bringing my sisters home from the hospital, as I was too young at the time.
However, I remember when my Mom was pregnant with my brother Joe. And I remember her telling my Dad "it's time" and my Dad taking her to the hospital. And I remember that I felt so nervous to hold him when they brought him home. (I was 8 years old at the time.) He was so little! And he had a soft spot in his head!
When he was a toddler, my sister's would dress him up in floral one piece swimsuits and dresses. He didn't seem to mind, though he'd roll his eyes whenever we brought it up as an adult.
There's video of me somewhere carrying him around on my shoulders in the living room. He was 3 or 4, so I must have been 11 or 12. I tripped and we both fell face first onto the floor. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but it was the second scariest accident I caused as a child.
When he was in the fourth grade, he started to experience severe anxiety. So much so that he didn't want to go to school at all. As I recall, my parents didn't put pressure on him to go back. After a few weeks, he was able to recover enough to go back to school. But I think he suffered from anxiety for much of his life.
Like our Dad, Joe was good with working with his hands. He restored a Toyota Landcruiser while in high school. While working full time as a nurse, he restored several houses and turned them for a profit.
We became good friends as adults. Neither of us were big talkers, but we would chat every month or so about relationship troubles, work, and other things going on in our lives. He was one of two people in my life who I felt like I could be completely open with about any topic. I like to think he felt the same way about me.
Although we become closer as adults than we were as children, most of our relationship developed at a distance. One of my hopes was to return to Idaho someday, and spend more time with Joe in person. I thought I had plenty of time, as Joe was ten years my junior.
With luck, the simulation hypothesis is true, and some version of me will get to see some version of him again someday.
Until then, I miss you bro.