Snafu

My brother sent me a text message this morning to let me know he had the song from "Snafu" running through his head. Snafu was an Intellevision video game we used to play. We weren't an Atari family, we were an Intellevision (and a few years later Nintendo) family. And we had some serious Intellevision competitions. My brother and I grew up playing all kinds of games. He loved competition and I just loved spending time with him....so I learned how to cheat and he learned how to spend time with his little sis.

I didn't remember the Snafu music so I texted him back and asked him to call and sing it to me. My brother randomly bursts out in song on any given day, so I knew he wouldn't let me down. Sure enough he called singing it loudly and all the memories rushed back. Snafu was a game that I actually could BEAT him at. Those kinds of games were few and far between (unless I cheated...which I did...a lot).

The whole experience with Mark this morning was in stark contrast to some other info I received this morning. I heard that a dear brother in ministry had passed away in his sleep. He was only 49. When something like that happens, it usually sends people into a tailspin of reflection. For me, it convinced me yet again that I need to never take people, relationships, spontaneous opportunities for fun or adventure for granted. We absolutely do not know how many days are planned for us by our Maker.

I thank God for the relationship I have with my family members. My brother calling to sing Snafu music to me is seriously priceless because it is just the platform for me to jump off of into a huge pool of memories with my one and only sibling and I cherish it.

I also let Shane know that from now on we will absolutely NEVER go to bed with out kissing and saying we love each other.

And the next time I can, I will whip out some kind of board game and challenge my brother to a tournament. I'm sure I'll cheat, and I'm sure he'll out-strategize me and beat me anyway...but one thing is for sure...I'm not taking my time with him or anyone else I love for granted.