Remembering Those Gone Before

Since my two older brothers are going to the Indy 500 and will be gone on Memorial Day, we went to take flowers to the graves of our parents and two brothers. Mom and Dad are buried by a little town called Huntsville, Ill. It's in Schuyler county, a town of barely 50 people. It's about an hour and a half from Galesburg. The brothers are both buried here in Galesburg. My oldest brother passed away a year and a day after 9/11/2001. He was a Korean War Veteran. My other brother died Feb. 5, 2000. He was 59. Both of them died from cigarette smoking related illnesses. Howard, the younger of the two had emphesema and Wally, developed cancer of the esophagal tube and could not eat anything by mouth for the last year of his life. It was really sad to go visit him. He was at the VA Hospital in Danville, Ill. for quite some time. He was always so happy to see us and never complained about his condition, but more than anything he loved to smoke and did even tho he knew that cigarettes literally were killing him. The last time I saw him before he died I knew was going to be the last time. He was still ambulatory, but was very weak and could barely make it around a short distance of the hospital grounds. He quoted The Lord's Prayer to us that day and I believe he knew he wasn't going to see me again.
He gave me his shirt that day. It was rather warm and he took it off and told me I could have it. I didn't have the heart to say I didn't need it, I just kept it. He was that kind of guy. He always helped me out when I needed something and I never had to ask. One time he sent me a hundred dollar bill for my birthday. He helped me get a car once after I wrecked mine and couldn't afford another one. I didn't get to see him again after that day but my brother, Bob went when it became closer to the end and he couldn't even get out of bed..They said a prayer together, Bob was getting ready to leave to go on vacation to Florida to see his daughter. When Wally died he was still in Florida. We had both said our goodbyes to him and I believe he was at peace when he took his last breathe......I remember him fondly today...he was a young soldier called to fight for his country at the tender age of 17. When the war was over and he came home he was a mental wreck and spent much of the remainder of his life in VA hopitals and Veteran care homes.