Can anyone picture Brian with graying hair? You know he would complain about it and talk about how he “will have to talk to his toupee maker” about getting an upgrade.
Three years ago I called Brian and suggest we go to Xavier’s campus and watch them blow up the Zumbiel plant. It would be the day after his birth day (3/22/08). He asked what time. I told him “Saturday at 8”. He said “AM or PM?” I informed him it was in the morning. He quickly said “no” and hung up as per Brian’s habit (it was OK if he did it – but there would be Hell to pay if you did!) He called me a little bit later and said “yeah, let’s do it. How many times do you get to see a building blow up?”
Being the good Dad that I am, I took Patrick and Caroline to witness this historic occasion. Patrick at the time was six and Caroline was two. We met Brian around 7:50 AM and got ready for the show. As you can tell from the you tube clip below, it was pretty cool (look for me in my yellow jacket around 1:10 mark and Brian briefly in his brown jacket at 1:24):
The "booms" were fantastic and all four of us kids loved it. Patrick and Caroline asked us to “do it again Dad!” We then decided to go to the “Sugar & Spice” restaurant for breakfast. We all had a great meal and he hummed throughout the meal. Brian thoroughly enjoyed spending time with his nephew, niece, and brother. He even “peasant stocked” me (paid for the bill) when I took Caroline to the bathroom. Brian said this was “one of his best birthday’s ever!” He kept saying “how cool it was to watch the building blow up” (it actually imploded Brian!) and how he loved spending time with his “favorite” niece and nephew. Brian talked at length about having Patrick spend the night. Patrick was very excited because “Uncle Brian will let me play video games and do whatever I want!”
As we left, Brian kept saying “this is a great day” and "what a great birthday". He was in good shape as he drove off in his Nissan Pathfinder blaring his crappy rap music on his stereo.
I choose to think of Brian’s birthday as a “great day”. Sure, I wish he was here. However, I want to think about how Brian lived. I love thinking about him and wondering how he would react to Patrick and Caroline, Xavier basketball and a host of other topics. I will always remember him saying good-bye that day by giving one of his famous bear hugs to my kids in the Sugar & Spice parking lot. Both my kids say “Uncle Brian gave the best bear hugs.” He did indeed because that is how he lived. My kids will always know Brian loves them. They will also always associate bear hugs and blowing up buildings to my brother! You and I know Brian is quite pleased with these associations!
Love and miss you Brian!
PS. XU could have used a little help last Friday against Marquette!
