6 years ago today Jim died. Harry has commented more than once that a day doesn't go by that he doesn't think of Jim. After we moved back to California 34 years ago, Jim and Harry often worked together each day. It was a great relationship - the kind of relationship brothers ought to have.
As the years advance, death and loss inevitably advance too. When we are young, we feel invincible. As we age, we consider the possibility that we are not quite so invincible. And when someone we love dies, when someone who has been a major part of our lives leaves us, we are often shaken to the core by the realization that we are truly mortal.
Fortunately we have the gospel truths to sustain us. We have family and friends to help us remember. And we have happy memories to reflect upon.
We are not at home or I would post some great photo to remember Jim by. We do have lots of great photos to enjoy. We do have memories that don't depend on distance to be accessible, so I will share one of those here instead of a photo. Maybe I have shared it before. That doesn't make it any less memorable for me!
While Harry was on his mission, he asked Jim to come and see me and take me to Helen's to have dinner with them. So Jim came out to Granada Hills one evening, and we drove back to El Monte. It was November of 1965. It was a kind of cold, rainy night. Grandmother Taylor was living with them so she was there too. It was a lovely evening. Then Jim drove over to see Trudy, to whom he was engaged - or about to be engaged to. He brought me along. How nice it was to meet Trudy's family too.
That experience was pivotal in helping me feel at home with Harry's family over a year later when he returned. I had not known them at all before, so it was nice to feel that comfortable as my relationship with Harry grew too.
And it is representative of the compassion and sensitivity that were hallmarks of Jim's character. Hopefully we can all honor his memory by striving to emulate his fine qualities.
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