family ties

The older I get the more my family expands. I have sisters in St. Louis, brothers in New York, cousins in California, nieces and nephews in Florida, uncles in Spain, aunts in Germany, parents and ohana in Hawaii – the list goes on and on … And although majority of this “family” isn’t blood related, the basis is the same, unconditional love.

Jeremy and I made another family recently, another version of our nation of 3 made out of water vapor and ice crystals. And as I tightly packed together my Snow Mo, I thought within weeks my new family would melt, this family would inevitably leave me.

It made me think of all the family I have lost – most recently my little brother, Marc Parrone, Jr. (MJ.) No, MJ wasn’t my biological brother, although the unsuspecting bystander could be (and was!) often fooled by our matching red hair and goofy personalities.

So when his life was cut short at the age of 26, I ached for my family, for the pain my “parents” were going through, for the tears the rest of his family would shed, for the loss the world would feel without this bright amazing soul lighting it up.

It hurt me to think I would no longer taste his cooking, I would no longer hear “Hi hippie,” on the other end of the receiver, and I could no longer kiss him on the cheek with aloha.

But on that cold Sunday morning, I learned a lesson from my snow family.

I realized no matter the elements, no matter what the environment has in store – I would always have my memories.

I hold on to the memory of Jeremy building his very first snowman that day, grunting, sighing and every 30 seconds asking, “is this ball big enough?” Listening to Sky Dog growl under her breath because Snow Sky was getting more attention from me, and the huge smile on my face as I hung a traditional German fur hat on Snow Molly’s head.

Just the same, I will forever hold on to the memories of MJ – the day he taught me to successfully flip a fried egg (after I dropped 3 on the floor), the day we woke up an hour late and drove like maniacs to get him to the airport on time, (mj providing commentary the whole ride), the day we crammed 12 people into the fun van and went to Ward's Rafters to hear music ...

And although I will miss him terribly, I have wonderful memories of my little brother – and these are memories that can never melt.