"What happened to him?" I finally asked,
dreading the answer.
"A boating accident on Lake Pontchartrain. I
rarely went out on the boat with him, but this time I
let him talk me into going. He had a habit of trying to
get me to be more like him. He was always after me to
enjoy life more. To him I was too serious, too
responsible. Usually, I didn't pay much attention to his
complaints, but this time, he argued that we should be
more like brothers. I relented. We both drank too
much. A storm came up. I wanted to turn around
immediately, but he decided it would be more fun to
challenge it and the boat turned over. Jean would have been all right, I'm sure. He was a far better swimmer
than I was, but the mast struck him in the temple." "Oh no," I moaned.
"He was in a coma for a long time. My father
spared no expense, hired the best doctors, but none of
them could do anything. He was like a vegetable." "How terrible."
"I thought my parents would never get over it,
especially my father. But my mother became even
more depressed. Her health declined first. Less than a
year after the tragic accident, she suffered her first
heart attack. She survived, but she became an
invalid."
We continued onward, deeper into the business
area. My father made one turn and then another and
then slowed down to pull the vehicle into a parking
spot, but he didn't shut off the engine. He faced
forward and continued his remembrances.
"One day, my father came to me in our offices
and closed the door. He had aged so since my