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December 13, 2025
Today is my brother Mike's birthday.
He would have turned 69 today.
He treated me like a typical little brother and I was more than content to travel through life as a #2 son.
As #2 I did not have the same responsibilities that are automatically assigned to the oldest son.
I was able to skate through a large part of my early life and let him take care of the important family issues.
When he died in a climbing accident on Denali in 1990 I got the promotion that I never wanted.
I was promoted to #1 son.
All of a sudden I had to deal with important family issues that I had never thought I would have to deal with.
I didn't have a choice - so I figured it out.
More often than not I would think about how Mike would deal with this or that and then do what I thought was best.
Truth is that some days I still wish I was still #2 son.
Because that would mean that Mike was still here.
But he is not and I still miss him every day.
Happy Birthday Mike.
