My brother seems to think I disagree with him or don't like him for what he does sometimes or maybe because I haven't laid the facts on the table. And it's entirely true that often times we disagree. Simply put, we are brothers and brothers disagree. What brothers will disagree on may vary and it's really not that important so long as they disagree because it is healthy to do so.
My brother leads a good life and he has earned everything he has. He has created things out of thin air and put the money in the bank each event. He works around the clock and no endeavor poses any obstacles he can't overcome triumphantly and earnestly.
During and after hurricane Ike, my brother didn't pause with any self pity that his very own enterprise was in obfuscation nor did he once relent to any means of acceptance of failure or surrender. He got out the generator, found a hand saw and proceeded with or without fate to render him capable.
The power was out at his house near or after
His largest concern that followed was rather or not the power was on at his work where the server(s) for his website was powered and was to remain energized at all times. This wasn't planned for and the power was in fact gone for the time being.
Plan B: Get gas and get out the generator and hook everything up.
We drove over to the Camelback Displays office to find a miracle. With all the tree damage in the neighborhood and all the large and aged trees on his property at the office, not a single branch defecated the structure in any way whatsoever that housed his enterprise. Amongst all the greater and larger trees that could have done the worst damage, none so much as grazed the sides of the building.
We drove over to the nearby Lowe's and bought a couple of pairs of gloves, a hatchet and a hand held branch saw. After a few cuts and pulls, we made a make shift starter pile to reveal that even his wife's car wasn't dented in any way. Chris must have left her car there and rode home with Curt the days earlier.
So there's no power and it's Monday. A lot of people would have sat pretty on their hands and watched TV. The power was on at home now after all. No time for jokes and we need to get on our feet pronto! But there's good reason and then some. The two of them have a nice house out there where they live and they live a decent lifestyle. However, they also take care of two elderly moms single-handedly at a great and enormous emotional expense (and burden). It's also true the rest of us lend a hand from time to time. But our help is the equivalent of rain in the desert for the better end and it's only a fraction of their efforts. Let the truth be candidly known.
Monday's a wash. Mostly everyone shows up at the office as instructed. But no real activity. No power means no phone system, no ac, no lights, no computers but unfortunately no phone calls from customers. What's the plan? A stream of confidence emerges out of two brains. Load the cars with computers, the fax machine and whatever else. Call the phone company and have them transfer the phone number to the house! Let's move!
And move they did. I went over there a few days later and saw that each room downstairs of their house had transformed for the most part into a center of a little chaos combined with ingenuity and more importantly ringing phones and ……sales. With files on folding tables and people on the phone I felt as though I must walk with careful adherence (wood floors) and speak lightly as not to disturb any commerce being handled by the staff in close proximity.
Why am I telling you all this!??
My brother has had to make some tough decisions from time to time. In fact he made one today. I am sure he doesn't always like the keys God handed him and I'm sure he and his wife wish they could find the freedom they truly deserve. Curt makes decisions. But he also finds answers and solves problems. Curt stays up late and researches my mothers' illness by himself! The decisions one makes aren't always the popular ones. But not making any gets you what?
The decision he chose today, I agreed with. I probably didn't say it in the way I should have. But let me try again. I trust Curt to the utmost more so than the air I breathe. If he feels what he is doing is right, I have no choice other than to stand behind him, He is one of the most gracious people I know and has the most integrity out of all of us. I aspire to stand with two feet wearing his shoes.
His cell phone rings. Someone else answers. I stuff another spoonful of Chinese food in my mouth. "Yes….weren't open…yeah…we're fine. What can I do for you today?"……….
