Two Pillars of The Same House

Brothers Brent (left) and Brad, 1969

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!"

Psalm 133:1

My wife's younger brother J. Lloyd Wert recently sent us some prints he made from their late father's collection of old slides. This one, taken of our two sons at one of our visits to Alma Jean's folks, is one I especially prize.

Like most brothers, Brad and Brent experienced their full share of distresses, but we've been so blessed by the strong bond they have forged over the years. And they've also been great "big brothers" and sturdy pillars for our only daughter who came along almost eight years later.

Brad, left, and Brent, right (next to his wife) in Brent's new house, Christmas, 2011

Here are the words of a song Brad, our Pittsburgh-based singer/song writer son, wrote in 1991 and recorded on his first album, "Ordinary Splendor":

BROTHER

growing up, I thought we were so different,
I was trying to be perfect, you were trying to stay sane,
and God knows I envied all your recklessness,
you reminded me of every risk I couldn’t take,
and when I think about it now,
all the ways I tried to make you change to distract myself from me again
and we can laugh about it now,
still we might have never found this place at all, a place where…

I am I and you are you and we are here together, we are
sons of the same father, sons of the same mother,
I am I and you are you and we are close together, we are
two ways to see the world, won’t you be my teacher, brother…

growing up, I thought that I could help you,
all my feeble strength was wasted trying to be strong,
and God knows your anger used to frighten me,
I wanted you to hide it just like me, and get along, and
when I think about it now, all the times I told you who to be,
thought it’d help if you were more like me and
we can laugh about it now, still we might have never found this place at all,
a place where…

         I am I and you are you and we are here together, we are
         sons of the same father, sons of the same mother,
         I am I and you are you and we are close together, we are
         two ways to see the world, won’t you be my teacher,          brother…

now when we talk, I’m always analyzing,
sometimes that’s good, sometimes it’s bad, most times it’s hard to say,
you laugh and say I make things complicated,
I laugh, and say you’re right, and that I’ll prob’ly stay that way, and
when I think about it now,
think of all the places that we share,
all the stories that we carry there and
we can laugh about’em now, still we might have never found this place at all,
a place where…

I am I and you are you and we are here together, we are
sides of the same coin, pillars of this same house
strong winds, east and west, strong winds, north and south,
two ways to see the world, won’t you be my teacher, brother…

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Family photo by Robert Maust