Eddie’s Birthday

Edward Joseph Carbone

(November 22, 1947 - May 10, 1992)

That's my brother Eddie. You can see from this photo what a gentle soul he was.

Some people ask for very little and don't get even that, and yet the rest of us are expected to live on and be happy sometimes.

So forgive me if my voice breaks trying to talk about Eddie.

He was a good big brother to me, and on his birthday that is also so close to Thanksgiving, I am thankful for his presence in my life when we were growing up...and for anything that ever made him smile.

Now we have all the days, and the sun

goes by the same; there is a faint,

wandering trail I find sometimes, off

through the grass and sage. I stop

and listen, only summer again––remember?––

The bees, the wind.

(from  A Memorial: Son Bret by William Stafford)