My Brother Leon

I am thinking today of one of my brothers because his birthday is today, or would be if he had not passed away in 1989. Ralph Leon Brown, but we called him Leon, was the middle of the three brothers, and I remember him as different from the other two in many ways. He always seemed gentle and unassuming and sometimes just out of place in his world. I remember him always saying, "Hi, it's me," when he called on the phone, as though there is no one else it could have been! I remember him telling me excitedly of his decision to follow Jesus, made at a small Baptist church a couple of blocks from our home. I believe he was really sincere and I have always wondered how his life was in Florida, after his wife left him and took his youngest child with her. He had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor at the base of his brain and she said his behavior became unpredictable. He wrote me in a letter once that I was always his favorite sister (he had 5 others to choose from) and that he felt he could have stayed more true to his faith if we had been closer geographically. I have lost touch with his family and wish that I had been less busy in those days. I was thinking last night how very blessed I am with the family God put me in, and the one He blessed me with (my husband and children and grand-children and great-grandchildren) and what a great life we live, especially when we know the Creator and Giver of life as our Friend and Saviour!