May 17, 2021 10:41AM
The guys struggled like hell in school (PROBABLY dyslexic but nobody knew what that was). My Dad was very hard on him...downright mean at times. Kenneth (Brother) started partying the night of his first concert...KISS in Dec 1976. He dropped out of school in 11th grade...battled depression most of his life....drank more n more n more with age to cope. But through it all, he ALWAYS ALWAYS worked. NEVER collected a dime of assistance. Even with his troubles, I still looked up to him. It sucks because he HATED that he never got his GED. He was scared that he would be embarrassed by failing. But the night, I graduated High School myself, he was my biggest cheerleader. He pepped me up when I joined the USAF. Was SO thrilled when I landed the job at NAS Jax Fire Dept and REALLY stoked when I was picked up by JFRD (Jacksonville Fire Dept) Through it all, I still looked up to him and did not feel the excitement for my achievements as much as he. December 2010, he had a bad accident while loading lumber on his delivery truck. Fell from 12 feet up and wound up with a brain bleed. It messed him up just enough to where he could no longer drive and he certainly could not focus on office work at the Supply company. That was IT for him. He essentially said "FU** IT!!" and drank himself to death on his couch. Some might say he quit but I KNOW he was simply tired of life. I actually found it ...and still do...a bit scary that my biggest motivator was overcome by demons. REALLY bums me out BUT.......I still will chuckle out loud sometimes when one of the MANY fun memories of that guy comes up and there is a LOT of them.
SubjectAuthorViewsPosted

  Lost my Brother 10 years ago today.

Ramgator256May 17, 2021 09:14AM

  Condolences Gater

CeeZar122May 17, 2021 09:24AM

  You got that right.

Ramgator112May 17, 2021 09:46AM

  My Brother and I on Christmas 1975. SST, check out what my Brother has.. Attachments

Ramgator130May 17, 2021 09:55AM

  I'm in the middle of my first Tyco train.

Ramgator109May 17, 2021 09:56AM

  Yeah I always integrated my..

sstrams112May 17, 2021 09:58AM

  LOL Funny you say.

Ramgator136May 17, 2021 10:22AM

  Yeah, I still have all mine..

sstrams111May 17, 2021 10:44AM

  Your brother was cool!

sstrams121May 17, 2021 09:58AM

  He was 6 years older than me. He had all the REALLY cool toys....

Ramgator111May 17, 2021 10:26AM

  I always looked up to him. Goes back to the cool toys. But seriously...

Ramgator109May 17, 2021 10:41AM

  I wished my brother and I were close like that..

sstrams107May 17, 2021 10:50AM

  You mean Major Matt Mason... lol

sstrams119May 17, 2021 10:47AM

  YES! LOL With the green Alien guy I did not like when I was 3-4 years old! nm

Ramgator101May 17, 2021 12:33PM

  Yeah, I had him... Attachments

sstrams123May 17, 2021 12:59PM

  Re: My Brother and I on Christmas 1975. SST, check out what my Brother has..

CeeZar135May 17, 2021 01:06PM

  CeeZar, I don't know if you've seen my posts..

sstrams116May 17, 2021 03:14PM

  Re: CeeZar, I don't know if you've seen my posts..

CeeZar120May 17, 2021 03:39PM

  Yeah, I figured it out about 2 weeks..

sstrams116May 17, 2021 04:45PM