Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A farewell to "Brazil"

Our dear friend Everett Brazil of Hobart OK left this earth yesterday, St. Patrick's Day - a most appropriate day for a staunch Irishman who was so proud of his Irish heritage. Our life is a lot better for having had Everett in it for the past 44 years. Everett and Cathrine had three sons - and they were overjoyed to be able to have our two daughters in their family. They kept them as often as possible, fed us (as parents) frequently so they could have the girls with them, and spoiled them rotten--even gave Jo her first pair of cowboy boots. And Everett taught them all the bad habits he could think of--he thought it was cute to teach Jo to chew tobacco and smoke cigars....and here is a picture of them just a couple of years ago, still sharing a chew! He taught Jo to sneak the milk carton out of the refrig and take a drink directly from the carton behind the open refrig door so her Mom couldn't see her. As teen-agers, he let the girls drive his 1949 International Harvester pick-up named "Shasta" (because she-hasta have oil, she-hasta have gas etc). He took them out to check the cattle or the wheat, rabbit shooting, or whatever. Brazils lived at Komalty--a grain elevator long since torn down, but that name was always the landmark for their place. The wheat was beautiful, and there was nothing prettier than being in southwest Oklahoma for harvest. When Jo and Scott were married, guests at the wedding in Chicago were given tiny pieces of burlap filled with some of Brazil's wheat to throw at the newlyweds--and Jo and I spent a wonderful day with the Brazil's on their farm cutting up an old burlap bag from the barn and filling them with the wheat. The girls' last visit was in the fall of 2005--and Cathrine & Everett enjoyed time with their girls again. We will miss Everett, but we have memories enough to last out our lifetime...we are grateful to have shared this journey with him. Thank you, God, for the gift of his life in ours.

2 comments:

CJTacky said...

That was perfect, Mom! I love thinking about all the fun we had with Brazil! He will be missed!

Jo Hilton said...

What a beautiful piece... thanks for doing that and for honoring Brazil. He will be missed!!! Go raibh maith agat (Thank you in Gaelic)

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