There aren't enough words in the English language for me to express my gratitude to my brother Steve. For those of you who don't know him or what he has done for our family, I will tell the story the best way I can, from my point of view.
Several months after the death of my mother (Sally Tucker) in 2008, my father (George James Tucker Sr.) went to live with Steve. When dad first moved in with Steve, dad was very mobile and still led an active life. I guess if you consider hanging out at Hardees with the other old men active, then, yes, he was active. Steve was working at Triton Boats in Ashland City, TN and had been with them since 1999. Steve has always been a hard worker and is a veteran of the US Army.
While Dad was living with Steve, his health began to decline. Of course I knew Dad wasn't getting younger, but I guess I still had the mental image of a strong, tall Yellow Freight truck driver that I called "Daddy".
During the decline of Dads health, Steve's employer, Triton Boats, announced that they would be closing down. This is devastating news for all the people of my home town and my brother who would be losing jobs in this economic decline. My brother lost his income and insurance, but gave my father a full time care giver. My Dad needed someone to cook for him, bring him his medicine at the appropriate times (a lot for a decade long emphysema patient with diabetes), take him to medical appointments, do his laundry, move him from his bed to his chair and get him to the bathroom. This is only a short list, but that made my unemployed brother a chef, nurse, doctor, taxi driver, maid and home health aide.
My brother stayed home and took care of my Dad while looking for another job. I'm sure that he overlooked jobs that he would have been qualified for because he was busy being a care taker. He may have missed a lot of opportunity for a great new job because he was being a great care taker to our father. I know he got frustrated and didn't receive all the help or gratitude he needed or deserves from the family. I also know that Dad never had a bad thing to say about my brother. Steve would tell me that Dad never knew what he wanted to eat or would complain about how the food was too hard to chew or cooked wrong, but Dad never told me these things. Dad always complimented Steve's food. It was like Dad was giving me tips. I guess Dad preferred Steve's cooking skills. Steve did everything he needed to do for my Dad!
Dad died in June of 2011. Steve is the executor of Dads estate, but that is another "care giver" job that doesn't have an income. He has been looking and applying for jobs near and far. He has family looking and applying or him also. This is a man who took care of his Dad instead of sending him to a "home" and may have missed several job opportunities and is now still out of work.
In order to help him out now in the best way I can, I have signed him up as an Amazon Associate. What this basically means is that if anyone clicks through his links to Amazon, he will receive credit and will help him financially. This will not add to the costs of the items you purchase, but will help me say "Thank You" to Steve.
Please bookmark this post so that you can access Amazon through Steve's affiliate link and let him know that I care! There will be Amazon links on this blog and I will also posts those links on my Facebook page and his Facebook page as soon as I figure out how to do it.
Thank you so much for helping out a great care giver, my brother, Steve.
