Not a Man of Constant Sorrow

I was just flipping through the channels and came across one of my favorite movies. I'm usually happy when that happens, but this time it's a little bittersweet. I haven't seen this particular movie for the past two years. Two years and two days, as a matter of fact. I hadn't really planned to post anything about it being the two year anniversary of my brother's death, but I almost feel like I have to now. Don't worry, I'll try to keep it as brief and upbeat as I can.

Jason had been in the hospital for five weeks, and as you can imagine, it got pretty boring there in his hospital room. I took a DVD player and quite a few movies in for Jason to watch. He watched some of his old favorites, including "Jaws", which is one of my all time favorites, as well. He and I watched the remake of "The Longest Yard", and both remarked on Courtney Cox's surprisingly (and suddenly) large breasts. In retrospect, if I had known that Jason was going to die, I wouldn't have wasted his time with that crap movie.

Twenty-four hours after Jason had been told of his inoperable aneurysm, he was trying to remain upbeat and reassuring to the rest of us. That night, we had the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" playing in his room. None of us were actually watching it, but it was just background noise, I suppose. I don't know how many of you have seen the movie, but near the end is the song "In the Jailhouse Now". Totally out of the blue, Jason starts yodeling along with the song. We all laughed, but it was just so surreal. My brother was always kinda goofy and making us laugh, but I'd never heard him yodel. Less than 12 hours later, he was gone.

I'll always remember that in my brothers last hours, he was still trying to make us laugh, and that's why it makes me a little sad to be watching this movie now. I just can't imagine handling my impending death the way Jason did. He was so brave, so strong... I never saw him shed a tear, never heard him ask "Why me?". Yep. My brother was "bona fide". (For that to make any sense, you have to watch the movie)