Shiftkitty
Registered User
I was about 4, which would make my next oldest brother 6. We were sitting at the dinner table, all 5 of us (my oldest brother was 8), and were just being kids while our parents talked about dull, grown-up things, like work and bills.
At some point my mom asked my dad if he had heard from his cousin Lupe lately. I remember this particular piece of the conversation because that's when my 6 year old brother left our chatter about TV shows and asked my parents;
"Do you remember when the house burned down?"
This was asked in a manner that could have easily been "Did you get more peanut butter?" I and my other brother were looking at him like "Uh... the house burned down? When?" My parents were just staring at him. My dad asked him to repeat what he had just said. He did. He then elaborated, "It was when Charlotte walked into the fire."
Any connection between my brother and my late uncle had not been made yet, but later he was thought to be the reincarnation of my uncle (appriopiately named 'Encarnacion' or 'Chon' for short) who had died in 1959, six years before my brother was born. What most certainly had never been discussed in his presence was the fact that at one point, the house that my dad and his two siblings lived in with his cousin Lupe's family did indeed burn to the ground, and his sister Charlotte, who was blind, walked into the fire, unable to see where she was going. (She was rescued but suffered some burns.)
Some years later we were in Prescott, Arizona, where the fire had happened. The dinner incident had long been forgotten. Down by Big Bug Creek was a park that used to be an old Mexican neighborhood. We went there and suddenly my brother started smelling smoke. We were teenagers by that time, and he insisted that someone had left a firepit burning. Naturally we went to track it down, although my other brother and I smelled nothing. My folks followed us although they could smell nothing either. If a fire was about to break out, we felt it our civic duty to do something about it. As we followed my brother's nose, my dad began to slow down. He knew where my brother was going, and it was odd to see a tear start to form in his eye.
When we got to where he was heading we found not a firepit or a fire of any sort. We saw my brother standing in the middle of the remains of a foundation of an old house that had burned to the ground many years ago. It was a somber moment as my brother looked around pensively. He asked my dad if everybody got out all right. Except for Charlotte's burns, they did. My dad walked up onto the old foundation. I don't know what he said to my brother, but they hugged like old friends...
...or long lost brothers.
At some point my mom asked my dad if he had heard from his cousin Lupe lately. I remember this particular piece of the conversation because that's when my 6 year old brother left our chatter about TV shows and asked my parents;
"Do you remember when the house burned down?"
This was asked in a manner that could have easily been "Did you get more peanut butter?" I and my other brother were looking at him like "Uh... the house burned down? When?" My parents were just staring at him. My dad asked him to repeat what he had just said. He did. He then elaborated, "It was when Charlotte walked into the fire."
Any connection between my brother and my late uncle had not been made yet, but later he was thought to be the reincarnation of my uncle (appriopiately named 'Encarnacion' or 'Chon' for short) who had died in 1959, six years before my brother was born. What most certainly had never been discussed in his presence was the fact that at one point, the house that my dad and his two siblings lived in with his cousin Lupe's family did indeed burn to the ground, and his sister Charlotte, who was blind, walked into the fire, unable to see where she was going. (She was rescued but suffered some burns.)
Some years later we were in Prescott, Arizona, where the fire had happened. The dinner incident had long been forgotten. Down by Big Bug Creek was a park that used to be an old Mexican neighborhood. We went there and suddenly my brother started smelling smoke. We were teenagers by that time, and he insisted that someone had left a firepit burning. Naturally we went to track it down, although my other brother and I smelled nothing. My folks followed us although they could smell nothing either. If a fire was about to break out, we felt it our civic duty to do something about it. As we followed my brother's nose, my dad began to slow down. He knew where my brother was going, and it was odd to see a tear start to form in his eye.
When we got to where he was heading we found not a firepit or a fire of any sort. We saw my brother standing in the middle of the remains of a foundation of an old house that had burned to the ground many years ago. It was a somber moment as my brother looked around pensively. He asked my dad if everybody got out all right. Except for Charlotte's burns, they did. My dad walked up onto the old foundation. I don't know what he said to my brother, but they hugged like old friends...
...or long lost brothers.
