Annual Lunch with My Brother

For 30 years now, my oldest brother, Mike, and I get together for lunch.  It is our way to catch up and talk one-on-one which is hard to do when more members of the family gather at our parents' home in Hopewell, VA.

It is an annual tradition that has witnessed the change in both of us getting married, Mike's wife having 2 children, both of finishing graduate school, buying new homes, his children graduating from high school, their attending college, and moving into our 50's.  Today, we focused on the health of our aging parents which I'm sure is the concern of most 50-somethings.

Hard to believe that it has been 30 years.  At our first lunch, I promised Mike lunch at a fashionable Richmond restaurant which turned out to be McDonalds.  It was Mike's first year of teaching and I had just completed my 4-year Army enlistment.

Over the years, we have often discussed our parents, our marriages, our careers, and our childhood.  I am blessed to have a brother who commits time to our annual lunch.  As in the very 1st lunch 30 years ago when I promised Mike lunch at a fashionable Richmond eatery, today we ended up at Red Lobster since Bonefish, my recommended restaurant in Southside, was not open for lunch.

Nevertheless, we had good conversation in catching up.  The Lord willing, Mike, same time next year.