David was my big brother. It's strange to think I am now so much older than he ever was. One of the best things about my brother was the fact that he was a dreamer. He truely believed that if you believed something would happen hard enough it would. That scared our parents I am sure but as a young kid I believed he was right because he was so confident about it. He was positive he would strike it rich somehow. For several years after his death I received get rich quick schemes in the mail addressed to him. David could convince you the sky was blue on the cloudiest of days. Dave was one of those people you couldn't stay mad at. For one thing he wouldn't let you and for another you would just miss being around him so much you would just forget about what was bothering you. One of the best pieces of advice he ever gave me was when I was in the 8th grade, David was only 5 years older than me so I gues he was about 18 at the time, I had worn one of his shirts to school without his permission and he wasn't very happy about it. When I explained I had nothing in style like my friends he replied " you take what you have and make the best out of it". That advice has stayed with me my entire life. I used that with my own children on more than one occasion. David lost his battle with drugs at the age of 28. His liver just gave out. Our family knew that Dave's time was very limited, Dave did not or if he did didn't believe it. I have always felt that there should have been something I could have done to stop him from using drugs. It has taken me a long time to realize that I could not. One of the last things he said to me was that he knew I loved him very much and if I needed him he would be there just like he knew how much I loved him and would always be there for him. He rescued me on more than one occasion, how I wish I could have rescued him.
