Round 1

Random epiphanies of the day that no one will bother to read:
1) My brother had a rough week, which extended out to his family. As I sat in the ER of a local hospital, I felt this thought swelling in the back of my mind, and suddenly it was spreading down my face. I was pissed my mascara was running. I was pissed I could no longer deny what this was. There in the bed was my brother, drooling on himself and the epitome of all the jokes you'd heard or told as a kid. I reached up to wipe his face and restore some sense of dignity and there was this thought that that was muddling around in the back of my mind suddenly took over. Growing up with a profoundly mentally retarded brother is a lot harder than I ever gave it credit. I'd grown reluctant in telling people about TJ, not because I was ashamed, but rather because I was sick of hearing, "Wow, that must have been rough." I'd always respond, "
Nah, it wasn't that bad and I really don't know how bad it was because it's all I knew." Well, ten years later and no longer living under the same roof, guess what? It was a whole fuck load of tough. I sat there watching the vital signs of a BP of 151/103 and resperations of 9, and all I could see where blue eyes like mine dilating in response to my tears.