Spoke to my brother for the first time tonight

[thxleo]

For the first time in my life, I spoke to my half brother Dan tonight. I was raised an only child, but my father had kids from a previous marriage. He had two boys and one girl. The oldest son, Jeff, died in the Marine Corps when I was a teenager. Unfortunately I never got to meet him. I was able to meet my half sister Deanna when I was a teenager. She is deaf, so our communication was limited however. The last several years we have been able to keep in touch through the internet. This evening, out of the blue, Dan contacted me and it was like something out of a movie...talking with my "older brother" on the phone. We are going to try to arrange some sort of meeting next year in the spring. Life is funny.

[Danny]

heh, reading this and it suddenly occurred to me "oh yeah, ive got two half brothers", i met em once when i was three, both in the army from my dads previous marriage, but my dad left when i was 5 so i never met them again, haven't even thought about them since then. Dont even know there names. Damn this is eeiry, funny the stuff you forget.

[kortick]

That must have been a surprise. I hope that u both form a relationship that is truly meaningful and you both enjoy sharing your experiences with each other.

[major jay]

That's very cool dude! I hope you two get to be very tight. My parents never divorced so my brother and I grew up together. Nowadays we don't speak. The truth is, I think he's a no good prick.

[axlish]

Congrats Lee! I have a half brother, but he is a full brother to me. I would never, and have never referred to him as half. He grew up along side me though, so that makes all the difference.

[thxleo]

Thanks Axlish, Kortick, Major Jay, and Hellsing. My father was not a good man. He walked out on Dan's Mother when they were small children. Years later, he treated my Mom so terribly she finally divorced him when I was 3 years old. He's an alcoholic, and adulterer, and an abuser. I can remember my Mother telling me stories of taking me out in the middle of the night with her to go look for him and finding him in some bar. To this day, I stay away from drinking and I think that has a lot to do with it. His mistakes have had positive effects on us, his children, though. Dan has been married for 12 years and has two kids. Deanna is married and has two kids also. I've been with my girlfriend Renee for 10 years now, but I'm still leery of getting married. Why ruin a good thing? LOL And I've as I said before, I've chose to keep alcohol completely out of my life. I'm looking forward to a "family reunion" soon. Thanks again for the nice messages.

[krakenslayer]

Congrats Lee! I have a half brother, but he is a full brother to me. I would never, and have never referred to him as half. He grew up along side me though, so that makes all the difference. That's kinda similar to my situation. I was an only child until my mother (divorced from my dad when I was three) met a new guy and had three kids with him. So I have two half-sisters and a half brother, but I've never called them that as we grew up together as full siblings. Where is gets weird is that THEIR dad has three kids from a previous relationship who they are just as closely related to them (genetically) as they are to me but, apart from when they were babies, they have have only met them a handful of times.

[axlish]

My parents divorced when I was three as well. A common thread between Lee, kraken and myself.

[capncnut]

It's nice to hear something good over the Christmas period, because it is generally a time of gloom and doom. I hope you and your brother continue to have a great relationship for years to come. I can remember my Mother telling me stories of taking me out in the middle of the night with her to go look for him and finding him in some bar. To this day, I stay away from drinking and I think that has a lot to do with it. Unfortunately for myself, similar things have pushed me in the opposite direction. The mopping up process is still ongoing and has taken two years so far with no real success. I've been with my girlfriend Renee for 10 years now, but I'm still leery of getting married. Why ruin a good thing? Quite agree.

[thxleo]

Unfortunately for myself, similar things have pushed me in the opposite direction. The mopping up process is still ongoing and has taken two years so far with no real success. Keep trying Cap!