Remembering Brian

 Today I'm thinking about my son Brian again.  He's been on my mind, day and night, since the day he died and especially now.  I guess it is because it's Spring, and we had planned on riding our scooters together and going fishing.  He had given me a small telescopic fishing pole, like his, so that we could carry them in our scooters.

Here is a picture of Brandon showing his dad the fish that he caught in the pond at Shady Oaks.  I think it was a small bluegill.  Brian and his family moved in there after the death of Brian's dad, James E. Hatcher around 2001.  It was nice having them live there so close, where I could stop and visit them anytime I wanted to.  Sharon also lived right next door too, so I could visit two of my children at the same time, as they both lived on the property named Shady Oaks in Rockcastle County.  Shady Oaks was heavily forested in oak trees but also had lots of Dogwood trees and in the Springtime it was beautiful there with all the Dogwoods in bloom.  It now has one Redbud tree too.

Here is another picture of Brian in the Spring/Summer of 2020 when he and I stopped in there to check on the place (Shady Oaks).  He lived in town now in an apartment by himself.  Brian took his fishing pole with him and on his very first cast, with an artificial bait, he caught this large mouth bass.  We planned on returning but unfortunately we put it off for too long and never got to go fishing together again.  Brian went fishing by himself in other places, but this was the last time he fished in the pond at the cabin.  

In the old garden area of the cabin the neighbors had planted flowers, and Brian was never one who could resist picking flowers.  The whole garden area was filled with all colors of beautiful flowers, but Brian just picked one.  If Reva would have been there he surely would have given it to her.  This reminds me of one of the times that I drove him to one of his doctor's appointments.  It was during the Covid-19 pandemic so he had to wait in the car until he was called in for his appointment.  But while we were sitting in the car, Brian noticed that right in front of the large office windows were beautiful rose bushes in full bloom, and he couldn't resist.  He got out of the car, headed straight to those rose bushes and began picking the flowers.  I know that the employees could clearly see him, but nobody came out and told him to stop.  He didn't pick many, and then he came back into the car and we cut the top out of a plastic throwaway water bottle and stuck the roses in water.  Of course they were for Reva.  He always had Reva on his mind, and she was waiting for him at his apartment.  He loved giving her flowers.  He was such a romantic and she was the love of his life.