Where In The World Is Sum1?

A Sad Week In Albuquerque / Los Lunas

This entry is dedicated to my brother Terry.

Obituary

Terry Lee Dorrell

b. January 9, 1960

d. October 17, 2017

His Motto was "Keep It Simple"

So I did.

         Seriously, here is my entry dedicated to my brother.


Date:  Week of October 16^th

Locale:  Albuquerque & Los Lunas, New Mexico

         I was delivering a class in Schaumburg last week when my cell phone rang.  Looking at the caller ID, I saw it was my sister-In-Law Ruth, and immediately knew why she was calling.  When I answered the phone, she was almost hysterical.  "Buddy, Terry has died!"  Even though I knew what she was going to say, it felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.  We talked a little bit, and I let her go, knowing she had more calls to make.  I asked my students (I only had two of them, taking a class they really didn't need to be in) to pardon me, and went upstairs to inform my manager.  Overall, I was fine, and still am.  But trying to talk about it, tell someone what happened, didn't go so well.  My manager knew what I was going through, since he'd lost his father about 4 years ago.  We talked some about the class I was teaching, and decided to cancel the rest of it.  He also told me to change my flight plans for the class in NYC the week of the 23^rd, and to fly to Albuquerque, then fly to NYC from there on Sunday.  That was very kind of him indeed.

         I spent the rest of that day finishing up, and getting things arranged for my students.  That afternoon, I changed my flight arrangements, and the following day I flew to Albuquerque.  I didn't arrive till late, so went to see Ruth immediately the next morning.  We met at the Mortuary where arrangements were being made for his cremation.  A lot of tears flowed during this time, along with a lot of laughter.  And slowly, I learned about my brother.  Learned about my brother you ask?  Let me explain.

         In 1972, I joined the Navy, and left home.  He was all of 12 years old.  I visited home often the first two years while going to several Navy schools.  By the time I was ready to go to sea, he was 14, and had just met a girl in school, and was 'busy with his new girlfriend.  I was stationed in Hawaii for the next nine years, and went home when I could, but it wasn't near often enough.  Then, I got married, and flights home were few and far between.  We both raised our families, but rarely spent time together due to where I was stationed.  So, I never got to know my brother(s), and sister as adults.  I lost my sister 10 yrs ago, and my other brother 8 years ago.  I was determined to stay as close to him as possible.  Sadly, I didn't work hard on that until his cancer hit.

         So I found out that my brother and I have a few things in common.  A love of aliens.  Aliens in flying saucers, ancient astronauts, the stars.  We both love the TV Show Big Bang Theory, and relate well to Sheldon.  He was a big believer in several things.  One of them was to buy local, support local businesses, and keeping things simple, hence my poor attempt at humor to open this entry.  I have much the same beliefs. In a sort of honor for my brother, I've changed the icon on my suitcase to a UFO, and will keep it there indefinitely, or until I feel it's okay to change it to something else.  No idea when that will be, but I will know when to change it.

Here are photo's of him starting about 20 years ago to last week.

He looks so young in this photo, and really is.  All of 37.



37 in this photo also



Terry & I, 2009.  Sadly, we were at our other brother's Memorial Service.  Little did we know we'd lose him in eight years.



They are such a couple, so much in Love.  I envy their love, I really do

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April of this year, Terry's cancer is hitting him so hard.  And it's only been three months since he was diagnosed!



Terry and his daughter Marie.  I absolutely LOVE this photo.  He's so sick, the cancer has eaten his bones so much that he has to wear a neck brace to keep his head upright.  He has broken ribs due to his bones being so brittle from the cancer.  A simple cough causes them to break from the spine.  But he never lost his sense of humor, and despite all the Chemo and Radiation treatments, he kept his full head of hair.