Bye Bye Brother

My brother flew out yesterday [by the time this was actually posted, it’s actually been about 2 days since he left].  His flight left Majuro at the 2:40 AM.  A lovely time, I know.  He’s been with TC and I for the past 2 months.  He’s 16 years old, and I feel the need to extol his virtues. 

First, for my four other brothers, I love you guys too.  I just haven’t spent almost all day of everyday for the past 8+ weeks with you.

Earlier in the year, we offered to have Jer come and spend the summer with us sailing from Kwajalein to Fiji.  He decided to take us up on our offer.  That already is a big thing – 16 year olds normally want to spend their summers hanging out with their friends.  I felt honored that he wanted to hang out with his big sis.

However, as it got closer to his arrival on Kwajalein, we all realized that we would not be getting to Fiji.  Oh well, he could sail around the Marshalls and then to Kiribati with us.  No big deal.

Then Jer arrived.  Approximately 60 minutes after his arrival, he began helping TC and I move from our BQs to our house.  The next day, Jeremy was out in the hot sun helping us actually work on Cherokee.  Then he proceeded to work for the next 6 weeks, as we faced more and more delays getting Cherokee in the water.  There was no way he could even sail to Kiribati with us.  Oh well, he'd just sail to Likiep and then fly out of Majuro.  (And you all know how the Likiep part of the trip turned out.)

Now I know my youngest brother is not perfect, none of us are.  However, I am really proud of the young man that he has become, and I was more than happy to have him live with us for the past two months.  Throughout the entire time, Jeremy maintained a positive attitude. He was respectful, responsible, polite, hard-working, and good-natured.  TC and I really appreciated that he helped us out so much without complaint.  We had so much fun hanging out with him.   There were times we were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down our face. 

I am going to miss that kid.  Maybe he’ll come visit us again, if he dares.  After all, we told him that he has unlimited Cherokee trip passes.  

Jer and I enjoying the new hammock.  The material for these hammocks is much softer than the old ones.

At the airport before he flew out.  We got kind of matching shirts (different colors).  They are Quicksilver shirts, but RMI specific.  The front says "Yokwe" over an outline of Majuro Atoll (I think) with the Quicksilver sign.  The back, as you can see, has the Quicksilver symbol, but modified to RMI colors.  You can see the actual RMI flag on the back of the guy in front of us.  Plus underneath the logo is a Marshallese stick chart (you could see it better on Jer's shirt, if his back pack wasn't on.  Thanks for point these shirts out to us, Mamo!

Our last picture together, taken at 12:30 AM or so.  We were getting tired.  Come visit again soon, Jeremy!