My brother, Ronaldo Julian Campos, lived for only five days and was born six years before me.  My family never talked about him.  I always wanted to know about him and as a young adult when I pressed my parents about him my dad raised his voice and shut me down.  I can’t begin to imagine what they went through losing a child.

All of those years as a young woman wondering about the brother I never had, I never really understood why I felt such a connection to Ronnie.  I didn’t get it until the past several years as I found out information about his cause of death…complications from hemophilia.

So today, May 22nd is the day he was born.  54 years ago my parents welcomed a son into the world.  I imagine my mother looking at him and her breath being taken away.  They didn’t know he would leave this world so soon.

There are no pictures of my brother, only a birth and death certificate.  But my soul knows him.  It always has.  As long as I live I will celebrate the day he was born and make sure that my sons know they had an uncle who had something in common with them.  They were blood brothers in ways many could never imagine.

If Ronnie was here, I imagine he would be thrilled because Julian is leaving for college in August.  He would be beyond excited because Caeleb is about to learn how to self-infuse and go to hemophilia camp for the first time.

And I would have a brother to love and embrace, just because.

Today I Am Thankful For:

1. Sunflowers
2. Cake
3. Yankee Candle tarts
4. Lunch with a really neat guy
5. Spiral notebooks