I am overwhelmed by all the messages of condolence you posted on the death of my brother

[Wicked Blue]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I couldn't ask for a kinder, more caring group of people than you on Democratic Underground. I am grateful beyond words.

Your support means so much to me, as it has to countless others among us. It is particularly generous at a time in our lives when suspicion and hate appear to reign in social media. You are the antidote to their poison.

You loving words - so many! - warmed my heart. My younger brother wasn't important or accomplished - except for knowing an unbelievable number of hilarious jokes. He never went to college. He earned very little in recent years, and often asked me for handouts. He had HIV, though it was controlled with medication. He managed to kick crack addiction (which is amazing), but smoked a lot of weed as well as tobacco.

A lot of his problems go back to the dysfunctional family we grew up in. We were beaten with leather belts, and in my brothers case, with metal coat hangers. I began planning my escape when I was 13, and when I left for college at 17, I never moved back. I went to therapist after therapist after therapist for most of my life, trying to get to "normal." But he remained at home longer, and had no interest in therapy. He masked his pain with weed.

He never married, never had children, which was probably for the best.

Some people would consider him a loser or a bum. But this huge, loud guy went to animal shelters on weekends, to brush and pet the cats there. He loved cats and usually had one or more living with him. He was so proud of himself last November when he got trained as a poll worker and worked a long day during the election. He was a strong Democrat.

He made and kept friends, good close friends, former neighbors from when we were kids, people from high school, people he worked with. I talked with one guy who had been friends with my brother for 47 years, and who had spoken with my brother three days before he died, and who wept when he heard the sad news.

He took German in high school, but taught himself much more in order to read the German motorcycle magazines he so enjoyed. He loved motorcycles, and usually had one that he was taking apart or putting back together. He wasn't into biker groups; he just loved to ride. All his friends admired his intelligence, including me. It was a shame he couldn't get himself together to go to college, but things at home were still bad when he was in high school, and I was no longer there as a buffer. He had so much potential, and I grieve for the waste of it.

But as I said at the beginning of my post, THANK YOU for helping get me through this sad weekend.