The Random Musings and Writings of Brandon

Five mornings ago, I was out for a walk as I tried to clear my mind of something that I knew would soon come to pass. I decided to set my music to a "radio" station formed by the music of the progressive metal/rock band Green Carnation. To be fair, I know much of the music of Green Carnation to be somber and thoughtful and certainly not triumphal. However, for reasons that cannot be known, the particular playlist that the app served me was particularly downtrodden and bleak. Although I kept on that channel for about an hour, I did eventually have to switch out of it to something less emotionally heavy. Soon after I returned home from my walk, I was informed of the death of my father-in-law. Certainly, this is not my first rodeo in someone close to me passing away. The first major passing of my life happened when I was a mere eight years of age, when my father Peter passed away after a relatively brief battle with a particularly virulent form of Leukemia. The memories of that ...

On Saturday morning, my father-in-law Robert Lach, passed away at the age of 89 years and 4 days.  For a number of reasons, Robert... or as I usually called him Bob or Bobbo, became an important figure in my life after I first met him in 2010. First and foremost, he was the (adoptive) father of my then girlfriend (and future wife) Dawn. When I first started dating Dawn, she was estranged from Bob (and June, Bob's wife and Dawn's (adoptive) step-mother). There were reasons for this estrangement which are not necessary to recount - all relationships have obstacles and strains - and it is the ability to bridge the disagreements that is ultimately important. The relationship between Dawn and I helped her to bridge some of the estrangements with her family... including her separation from her parents. It is important to recognize that I have added the adoptive prefix above not as a pejorative. But, rather as an enhancement to the characteristic of being a father/parent. For Bob (and...