Tonight we welcome my brother, Pat, to the blog.
A few weeks ago, I went over to my parents' house to have
cheesesteaks and do our yearly Family Commentary on the Charlton Heston Ten
Commandments movie. During pre-dinner drinks, my mom asked if I wanted to
go through Dan's box of DVDs and games to see if there was something I might
want. As I went through it, I started tearing up. I remembered several were
movies that Dan had asked me to get him for Christmas or his birthday over the
years. I started remembering how he started telling everybody “I'm your
huckleberry” after watching Tombstone, rolling on the floor of Doggie
Dad and -Mom-Mom's shore house laughing with me and our cousins at History
of the World Part I and Blazing Saddles (and at Uncle Chris'
attempts to shout over the language), or making the whole house shake when he
watched Braveheart or Boondock Saints.
One of Dan's favorites was the Rocky series. He once
told me his favorite mesage behind the movies wasn't about winning, but simply
going the distance and proving to yourself and to everyone you're not a
pushover. Dan proved that more times than I can count from the sports he
played, the ROTC, and his final round. Like Micky from the movies, I was left
saying to myself “I don't care what them doctors said, He's the man who won the
fight!”
Over the last month I've seen how people have looked to find
ways to remember Dan. Laura with the MACSTRONG bands and this website, Moira
with her jewelery. I wanted my own keepsake to remember Dan in addition to all
the memories of watching movies with him.
I found this:
When I wear it, I'll think of Dan imitating Burgess Meredith
and saying:
"It's gotta be like a, like an angel on your shoulder see? If you ever get hurt and you feel that you're goin' down this little angel is gonna whisper in your ear. It's gonna say, 'Get up you big nerd 'cause Danny loves you'."
Believe it or not, Dan's favorite childhood movie was "The Little Mermaid." Every time he watched the scene with the chef chasing the crab he laughed hysterically. It was more fun watching Dan's reaction than actually watching the movie. We watched "Blazing Saddles" for the last time together on New Year's Eve when we got home from our dinner odyssey, trying to stay awake for midnight. I can't believe how much we still laugh at this silliness as we recite the dialogue.Some may think this was a waste of time but to me these are more treasured memories.
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