"Bear"

My brother Mike was born today in 1951 and died today in 2005. 

 My brother Mike was born on December 30th. He was 2 years younger than I. He died on his birthday at age 54. He was my second and last brother to die. My brother Bill had died 15 years before. Mike had knee surgery in June of 2005 and had developed a staph infection in his knee. He had 3 surgeries to try to clear up the infection. He died following the 3rd surgery. He came out of surgery alright, but sometime that night, his heart stopped and he died. 

 Mike was a small kid, always small for his age. However, as an adult, he put on lots of weight and was nicknamed "Bear", because he was so big and always had a beard and just kind of looked like a bear.

 Mike was the kind of kid who was never in trouble. He always did what he was told to do, never talked back, never got in trouble. It used to make me crazy because I was just the opposite and was always in trouble. But, boy, you couldn't make him do anything that he wasn't supposed to do. Perfect child at home and at school. He even started out that way...he was about 10# when he was born and would have to be woken up to eat. The perfect baby...never cried, just slept. I guess as he got a little older he began to make up for it. By the time I left for college, he had started drinking and had some "incidents" that were alcohol-related. He finally wasn't the perfect child, which was fine with me! Mike finished high school and tried junior college, but just wasn't interested in school. He loved cars and became a mechanic. He got involved in tractor pulls and had an old tractor that he competed with in the tractor pulls. Everyone knew "Bear" and he was well known for being someone who would do anything for anyone. He was a truly generous person, never talked badly about anyone, and had a great sense of humor.