William Edward

Today is my brother Bill's birthday, he would have been 56 today. 
I lost Bill in 1993, time has a way of getting away it seems.  Bill is my second little brother, he came into the world hard.  Mom said when he was trying to deliver the nuns, who were nurses at the hospital she was in, would not let him be born and tied her legs shut.  The nuns said Mom had to wait for the doctor.  As a result of his hard birth Bill suffered some behavior problems due to lack of oxygen. 
But I will say, he was beautiful as a baby and I loved to hold him and rock him.  Bill needed a lot of holding and rocking, he could not keep food down or sleep well, he was so sick his first year Mom was afraid she would lose him.  We lived in Indiana at the time and my father was away working for the railroad when Mom packed all four of us and drove us to Michigan to try and save her baby boy. 
It was a very difficult trip, we had no money and when the car broke down a stranger helped to get it back on the road.  Mom herself was sick and had 4 children, 10 and under she was trying to bring home to Michigan.  The weather was horrible and yet she managed by sheer will to get us home.  When we arrived Mom collapsed at Aunty Do's and my great-aunts took over.  It was pure divine intervention that she was able to get Bill to a doctor in Michigan in a timely manner, he was dying from an inner ear infection and it had traveled through out his little body. 
Bill always seemed to push the envelope all his life.  He escaped some horrible events and had some terrible side effects as a result.  Bill self medicated to get through his hell and when he came to live with us in 1992 I tried to help him, but he was too far gone to bring him back.  Despite all the trouble Bill gave me, I always will love him and cherish the few years I had with him.  He did not always have self control, and it was not always his fault, his demons were so hugh.
As I celebrated his birthday today, I hope he knows how much he was loved and cherished.
His one song we sang to him was ...

Oh, where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Oh, where have you been, charming Billy?
I have been to seek a wife, she's the joy of my life,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

 

Can she make a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy,
Can she make a cherry pie, charming Billy?
She can make a cherry pie, quick as a cat can wink an eye,
She's a young thing and cannot leave her mother.

source: http://www.lyricsondemand.com/miscellaneouslyrics/childsongslyrics/billyboylyrics.html

 

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Happy Birthday Billy Boy.........