Sept. 11 Today I remember Thaddeus and Jonathan

September 11th 1996 and 2001 have made today a coincidental matching mile stone and memorial date for me and my family.

10 & 15 years ago... How the years and the stretch of time have shaped my memories of the departures of my older brother Thaddeus and my Uncle Jonathan from my life.

I take time to celebrate them as best I can today. Yet time and space have pushed them in to the mists of family lore.  I remember them as the idealized versions of who they really were. From the pictures  they are forever as they were, kind, generous, quirky, filled with a zest for life.  My mind mixes actual memories with what I have imagined of them in the time since they have been gone. 

I'm sure today I'll call up my parents and grand parents and siblings and we will reminisce and we will cherish the memories and add to the lore of my brother and uncle's lives in the natural course recalling how their lives touched our own.

After all, isn't life, this journey, the sum of it all in the people that touch us and who we touch; in who we connect or disconnect with?

In my daily life I subconsciously feel Thad and Jon and their impact on me; Thad more than Jon. Thad and I were the two at the beginning of the Randall Ring family clan of 10 siblings. Just 18 months apart in age, we spent much time as youngsters doing what brothers do, (getting into mischief with and fighting each other). I idolized my older brother even when we were kids, he was always breaking new ground, he never did follow the crowd of kids around him. I think he is one of the reasons I march to the beat of my own drummer and enjoy it. From both Thad and Jon I am reminded that life is too short to always be conventional. The memory I have of them makes me want to live life to the fullest!

So who were these two guys the ones I remember today?  Just two regular guys who went about their lives as best they could and who never fully knew how much their living and dying would touch me as I live the joy and mess that is my own life.

Thaddeus Randall Ring and Jonathan Randall you both live in my head and heart. Thanks for being part of my life.
Date Etched in Memory September 11