Yesterday I got to facetime with my brother, Charlie. We have been trying to do that for about a year and I finally managed it yesterday. I don't exactly know how I did it, but I did.
Since we are only 14 months apart, I was very close with my brother. He was a very kind, sweet boy. We shared a room till I was 10.
Everything was good till Charlie started to drink when he was a teen and it just got worse as the years went by. He married a drug addict, the marriage lasted a few years.
He could not hold a job for long. When my parents died he lived on and off with me. He rehabbed a few times. He would be good for a period of time but when he fell off the wagon he was horrible and we all had to deal with his problems. Which was one reason I left New York. I did not want to deal with him any more. I always took him back because I could not let him live on the street.
I have not seen him since 2000. He made his life with someone he met in a newspaper ad and lived with her and her kids.
So, anyway, we finally "saw" each other on video chat! It was fun. He is in a rehab/nursing home and he was showing me around his room and I was showing him around my room. We only did it once, but I hope we do it again soon.
I wish he had a better life, that he could be in a better place now that he is heading towards the last stretch. He knows he is there because of his choices. I just wish this life was easier for him. Maybe the next one will.
