Do you see the humanoid looking speck at the top of that hill?

That’s my brother Andre, also known as The Lunatic.  Always willing to go the extra mile or the extra climb for that perfect photograph,  We were already on top of a hill and could see a nice view and a good distance, but Andre just had to go for a higher vantage point.

That’s my brother for you!  When he was a teenager he rode from Georgetown to Lethem, he will tell you that he actually didn’t start riding until Linden, but that’s like saying the glass if fifteen-sixteenths full and not full all the way.  Anyone who has travelled the trail in recent years knows that its rough, well that trail didn’t exist in that state when he rode it, it was rougher, with steeper hills and swamps.

He is the kind of person who will run towards the tornado to get a good shot, instead of running for cover like the rest of us,  he will hang off the edge of cliffs looking at waterfalls, and jump out of a moving vehicle on a precarious hillside just because he sees a photo opportunity, leaving the rest of us panicking in the vehicle, worrying more about him than ourselves.

When Andre makes up his mind to do something, he’ll move mountains to do it, and accomplish it with style and a smile on his face.

Why am I saying all these things about him now?  Men in our family generally don’t express that much emotion to each other, we acknowledge things like pride and love with a nod of the head and a small smile.  Andre is the second member of our family to migrate this year, Joan married and migrated a few months back, none of the family have done so before, and the feelings are bitter-sweet.  We are happy for them and wish them well in their lives, a future that is unsure as always, but sure to be filled with many things new and wondrous, yet we are sad that we are losing them, it is hard to say goodbye to someone who has been a part of your life for all of memorable time.

When this blog-post goes live, I will be at the airport saying goodbye to my brother, my friend.  Vaya con dios!  Hasta la vista!