This is a picture of my brother, Max, with his award for being the Citizen of the Year in Lorenzo in 1996. It's not a very good picture. I place it on the Blog because of how exceptional it is. Of all the photos of my brother, this may be the only one of him posing with an award.He could have been given an award for being a great deacon at a crucial time in the life of the small Baptist church in our little home town. He could have been given an award for being the kind of brother who came to my rescue so many times (including the time when a tornado devastated my house in Wichita Falls). He could have been given an award for teaming with Patricia and raising our brother's two remaining children after an automobile accident took the lives of their parents and their brother in 1966. He could have been given an award for the exceptional grace with which he transitioned from full-time farmer to full-time banker. He could have been "awarded" for teaming with Patricia (again) and taking care of our ailing/aging mother. His service to his community through the Lions Club, the Gin, and the Grain Co-Op were pretty well recognized, I suppose, but I don't remember a photo of Max with the awards.
Max died in 1997. I still tell stories about him at the coffee shop and I miss him. I see men in everyday life who remind me of Max..and I miss him. I remember the things he taught me (how to drive and other important life skills) and I miss him.
I don't spend a lot of time being melancholy about Max not being here now. He's enjoying Heaven if I understand the Bible at all.
I can close my eyes and get a little picture in my mind of what he's doing right now. It's a picture of Max in Heaven in the presence of Jesus Christ.
That's the other picture of Max posing with an award.
