abbydaddy
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2014
- Messages
- 3,234
Background About My Brother
One year ago, on May 14th, my baby brother died in a car accident. He was 13 years younger than me, but we were very close. When he was a baby we shared a room, and so I woke with him and fed him and changed him as an infant (which led my dad to mistakenly claim that August slept through the night from the beginning at one point). For a good chunk of his early childhood it was just him, me, and my dad, so my brother had a hard time understanding that he did not have two dads. As he got older that changed, but the semi-parental character always stayed a part of our relationship. After I moved out he moved across the country to live with his mom, who he stayed with for the most part until his death. Nonetheless, he always made sure to call me at least a couple times a month until he died. He was very good about keeping in touch. Much better than I am.
He did not have an easy go of it in life, and as he got on into his teenage years he had a lot of trouble with drugs and alcohol. He had a series of stints in rehab and a school for troubled teens. After high school he continued the same trajectory, and though he enrolled in a community college he was not able to keep clean and quickly dropped out. After dropping out of college he finally seemed to get serious about his recovery. After another stint in rehab he started going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings regularly.
After years of expecting to hear that my brother had died of an overdose, he suddenly seemed to be back. His speech was clear, he was happy, he went back to school and was doing better this time. He held down a job and was active in the recovery community. He was optimistic and doing well, and I stopped expecting bad news. As it turned out he stayed clean for the rest of his life.
A year and a month ago my daughter was born, and my brother was thrilled to be an uncle. My wife and I made plans to fly him out with her brothers so all the uncles could meet Abby together.
A year ago, late at night, he gave a friend a ride home, and then on his own way home, lost control of his car (driving way too fast) and wrapped his car around a telephone pole. His system was clean, he wasn't drunk or high, he was just driving recklessly (much as I had done at his age). He was 20 years old.
Though his car was just ten feet off the side of the road, near a housing development, it was more than four hours before anyone stopped to check on his car. In my brother's case it probably wouldn't have made a difference if he had crashed next to an emergency room, but we'll never know for sure. I include this detail just as a reminder that we are all in this together, and you can save lives just by stopping to check. I've saved a few folks over the years by checking on wrecks, and I've known other people who were saved by a passerby stopping. It doesn't take any special knowledge or skill to call 911 for a person in trouble, but you could save their life.
But on to the giveaway.
After my brother passed, his mother sent some of his things to me that had special sentimental value. When my brother was little he was very impressed by my sword collection, so when he turned 13 I bought him a replica saber. His mother sent his sword back to me, along with his babyhood favorite stuffed Barney for my daughter, and for my father she sent my brother's knife. My brother's knife was my dad's old Camillus Boy Scout Knife, and it was in turn my brother's adventure knife. Though my brother was not a Boy Scout, that old Boy Scout knife was special to him.
I wanted to be able to share that, or to help someone else share it. So my idea is to send a Boy Scout Knife out to someone to give to a youngster for their first knife. So I'm asking you to nominate someone else who you will give the knife to.
Unfortunately, Camillus went bankrupt a while back, and even the new Camillus doesn't make an official Boy Scout Knife. I really want to give an official Boy Scout Knife, so for this giveaway I will be buying a new knife from ScoutStuff to send directly to the winner. (the knife can be seen here http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/camping/knives-accessories/knives/knife-bs-pocket.html#.VUvPYPlViko)
The picture is of an old Camillus Boy Scout Knife, but the new ones are similar looking.
Rules:
I debated going for the Case Boy Scout Knife, but since my hope is that this will be a child's knife, I thought it best to go with one that It'll be okay to break or lose.
I have been inspired by a few recent giveaways, in particular Charlie Mike recently gave away a knife as a mitzvah following the passing of a friend and fellow recoverer. Since my brother was also in recovery when he passed I thought it was an extra fitting mitzvah. As I was nearing the anniversary of my brother's death, I thought this would be a fitting way to help make his memory be for a blessing.
One year ago, on May 14th, my baby brother died in a car accident. He was 13 years younger than me, but we were very close. When he was a baby we shared a room, and so I woke with him and fed him and changed him as an infant (which led my dad to mistakenly claim that August slept through the night from the beginning at one point). For a good chunk of his early childhood it was just him, me, and my dad, so my brother had a hard time understanding that he did not have two dads. As he got older that changed, but the semi-parental character always stayed a part of our relationship. After I moved out he moved across the country to live with his mom, who he stayed with for the most part until his death. Nonetheless, he always made sure to call me at least a couple times a month until he died. He was very good about keeping in touch. Much better than I am.
He did not have an easy go of it in life, and as he got on into his teenage years he had a lot of trouble with drugs and alcohol. He had a series of stints in rehab and a school for troubled teens. After high school he continued the same trajectory, and though he enrolled in a community college he was not able to keep clean and quickly dropped out. After dropping out of college he finally seemed to get serious about his recovery. After another stint in rehab he started going to Narcotics Anonymous meetings regularly.
After years of expecting to hear that my brother had died of an overdose, he suddenly seemed to be back. His speech was clear, he was happy, he went back to school and was doing better this time. He held down a job and was active in the recovery community. He was optimistic and doing well, and I stopped expecting bad news. As it turned out he stayed clean for the rest of his life.
A year and a month ago my daughter was born, and my brother was thrilled to be an uncle. My wife and I made plans to fly him out with her brothers so all the uncles could meet Abby together.
A year ago, late at night, he gave a friend a ride home, and then on his own way home, lost control of his car (driving way too fast) and wrapped his car around a telephone pole. His system was clean, he wasn't drunk or high, he was just driving recklessly (much as I had done at his age). He was 20 years old.
Though his car was just ten feet off the side of the road, near a housing development, it was more than four hours before anyone stopped to check on his car. In my brother's case it probably wouldn't have made a difference if he had crashed next to an emergency room, but we'll never know for sure. I include this detail just as a reminder that we are all in this together, and you can save lives just by stopping to check. I've saved a few folks over the years by checking on wrecks, and I've known other people who were saved by a passerby stopping. It doesn't take any special knowledge or skill to call 911 for a person in trouble, but you could save their life.
But on to the giveaway.
After my brother passed, his mother sent some of his things to me that had special sentimental value. When my brother was little he was very impressed by my sword collection, so when he turned 13 I bought him a replica saber. His mother sent his sword back to me, along with his babyhood favorite stuffed Barney for my daughter, and for my father she sent my brother's knife. My brother's knife was my dad's old Camillus Boy Scout Knife, and it was in turn my brother's adventure knife. Though my brother was not a Boy Scout, that old Boy Scout knife was special to him.
I wanted to be able to share that, or to help someone else share it. So my idea is to send a Boy Scout Knife out to someone to give to a youngster for their first knife. So I'm asking you to nominate someone else who you will give the knife to.
Unfortunately, Camillus went bankrupt a while back, and even the new Camillus doesn't make an official Boy Scout Knife. I really want to give an official Boy Scout Knife, so for this giveaway I will be buying a new knife from ScoutStuff to send directly to the winner. (the knife can be seen here http://www.scoutstuff.org/bsa/camping/knives-accessories/knives/knife-bs-pocket.html#.VUvPYPlViko)
The picture is of an old Camillus Boy Scout Knife, but the new ones are similar looking.
Rules:
- Open to everyone
- I will send the knife to anywhere in the US and Canada that ScoutStuff will ship to
- I want you to nominate someone, preferably a child that you will give the knife to (make sure it is someone that you can give the knife to without any problems)
- One entry per person
- your entry will be your post in which you say "I'm in" AND tell me who you will give the knife to
- You don't have to tell me why you are nominating someone, but I would appreciate it if you did
- Don't enter if there is some reason that it would be legally problematic for you to enter
I debated going for the Case Boy Scout Knife, but since my hope is that this will be a child's knife, I thought it best to go with one that It'll be okay to break or lose.
I have been inspired by a few recent giveaways, in particular Charlie Mike recently gave away a knife as a mitzvah following the passing of a friend and fellow recoverer. Since my brother was also in recovery when he passed I thought it was an extra fitting mitzvah. As I was nearing the anniversary of my brother's death, I thought this would be a fitting way to help make his memory be for a blessing.
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And best wishes to your friend, his wife, and his son. There is no good time to lose a loved one, but 12 is a very hard time to lose a father.