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| "Little brother "A" still taking
care of his big brother "J" !!" |
“I’m
Just Sayin’”
by Alan P. Scaglione
Who knew?
Who could possible know…that a long
forgotten violin, tucked away in the extra bedroom of my brother’s townhouse,
not even remembered by his widow until asked…
Could mean so much to a stranger….20
miles, a bridge and a lifetime away.
But….apparently, it did!
I am still tying up loose ends for my
big brother Joe.
Funny how I seem to have gotten elected,
by default, to the task of tying up his loose ends.
I don’t have the luxury of deciding
what I will and won’t do… I get the leftover tasks.
Like writing and delivering the
eulogy.
Like picking up and spreading Joe’s
remains.
Like letting his old friends know…that
Joe had left us on May 12th, 2012.
Old friends who hadn’t seen or heard
from him… in years!
Funny thing about true old
friends…time seems to pass, but yet…no time passes. Hearts connected are
still….connected hearts!
Joe had a friend named Ken. They were
best of friends in Joe’s earlier life. Ken and Carol were a couple Joe spent a
lot of time with.
When Joe moved over to Clearwater,
travelling the bridge that connects it to Tampa, he just left Tampa and all of
his connections, behind.
And Ken and Carol…they were some of
those Tampa Connections.
Joe found out last year that Ken had
passed away.
He called me crying. “I should have
never lost contact with Ken. I should have not let him down. He meant so much
to me, and now… he’s just gone!”
Joe ended up writing a song for Ken.
He called me one morning and sang it to me. It was touching and reflective and
remorseful.
I knew… Joe would want me to find
Carol and let her know… Joe and Ken were together again!
I must have a way, or… I am just
tenacious! I set out to find Carol.
Facebook found her daughters. For
those who still have landline phones, and luckily, Carol still did, the White
Pages had their name, number, address.
Carol was found!
Now reaching her…that took some time!
Messages were sent—no response.
Finally, weeks later, my phone rang
from an unknown source. I usually do NOT answer those, but… my gut said “Take
this one!”
I did.
It was Carol. She got my messages. She
remembered me. She said she remembered me bringing my kids to their house for
dinner—I didn’t remember any of that.
I told her of Joe’s passing.
Her first words were “Ken lent Joe his
violin. I would love to have that back. It meant so much to me. Ken used to
play that violin for our girls. I loved seeing him play!”
Who knew?
And who knew that the violin in the
spare bedroom in my brother’s townhouse housed this instrument that meant so
much and brought back so many memories…
For an old friend who had been deserted years
ago.
But…apparently, it did.
So… being the brother who takes on the
task of tying up my dearly departed brother’s loose ends… I set out to find
this violin.
I spoke to Joe’s widow. I asked her if
she recalled a violin. She said, “The one in the guest bedroom? That’s not
Joe’s? I just thought he bought it. That’s not his?”
I explained the story and how Carol
had asked to have it back.
She was immediately agreeable. “Of
course. I didn’t know it wasn’t Joe’s. Please give it to her!” I took it with
me, along with about 10 boxes of Joe’s life.
And I contacted Carol. I had the
violin—it was coming home!
Funny what you keep—to remind you of
those who’ve left you.
I have three dried out roses—Ellen,
Aunt Ciria, now Joe! From their funerals. Makes me cry.
Made me wonder?
What will my wife keep of mine… to remind
her of me?
I asked her… she said “Please don’t
talk about you leaving!”
I thought to myself “somebody needs
to—it could happen, and all that would be left is… a violin, in the corner of a
room, wanting to go home!”
Until Next Time
I’m Just Sayin’…
Brother “A”
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