Thursday, September 27, 2012

BEFORE THE FALL

Found this photo of me and my late oldest brother sometime before he moved to Japan, where he lived and worked until a few years before he passed not that long ago. He remained a humble, moral, committed, spiritual, good Franciscan friar to the end. It wasn't until I was older and went through my own "spiritual growth" that we came to be as close as you would want to be to a sibling you loved.

He was a beacon to me through all my wayward years, never judging me, at least not to me, always praising my attempts to help create a world with more love and kindness, tolerance and fairness. I miss him, as I do all my siblings who have passed. Which is reassuring, because I couldn't wait to get away from them when I was a rebellious teenager. Isn't life a beautiful mystery?    

6 comments:

JenW said...

Yes, Michael life is. That's a lovely photo- your faces are the same shape too. I am sure your oldest brother is still a beacon to you, guiding you as an angel. I miss my angels too but I always seem to get a boost or an unexpected treasure when most needed so it must be them. It's good to have angels in the family...

Anonymous said...

Aww....that is such a sweet photo...I have a photo of Dante and Anthony about 9 and 12, wearing their altar boy clothes, that I treasure.
Suzanne

MICHAEL FERRI said...

Yes, very sweet photo, Michael...

Lally said...

Thanks. It is sweet. But would have embarrassed me for years afterward. The whole bad boy macho thing. How sweet it is to remember the (relative) innocence (in both sense).

William McPherson said...

Beautiful words, Michael, beautiful thoughts. You're an inspiration to a lot of us and this post is one of the reasons why.

Lally said...

Thank you William, that kind of comment makes a lot of this writing stuff a lot more worthwhile.