One of my on-going projects is to organize and scan the photos I have collected through the years. One of my sons (Michael) would like most of the ones of himself scanned so that he can have them. As I have time, I go through some of the old photo books and try to make order of them and do the necessary work.
I find many of them, through their composition and living through the changes of the years, make me very sad. The one below is just such one. Michael was 8, almost 9, when this photo was done and Robert was 5. The photo shows big brother, Michael, taking care of baby brother, Robert, by tying his shoes.
That's the way it was for many years. Two peas in a pod. They were closer than any brothers could be. It continued into adulthood, even to the point of Robert following Michael to Guam to live, dive with and help out Michael. And not just once, but twice.
Then Michael was moved from Guam. Robert stayed behind for a while. He had gotten various jobs while in Guam and the last one was disastrous. It was very dangerous. The owner of the business did not follow safe-practice work practices. Cleaning the hulls of large ships, all around the Pacific, using that heavy head gear. Robert knew the owner was not using good practices, and I suspect he may have also been participating in human trafficking. That's just a guess, though, but Robert hinted at it to me. Well, Robert believed, I think, that he should take care of the owner himself, since the government on Guam is so corrupt. So, he came home at Christmas. Then there were other things that happened that caused his dad and myself to have to ask him to leave our home, until he changed his ways. Our health would not allow the amount of stress that came into our home when he was here.
He's always welcome to come back if he changes his ways, comes back to the Lord, and tries to make restitution to us and his "friends." My Bible tells me that when you bring up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. Well, I'm not sure what "old" means in that context and it also does not tell me that I will live to see it.
So, it makes both his dad and myself very sad to see how things have become. They are so different from how they used to be. We don't know what has made him become the way he is. It certainly is not how he was raised. We haven't spoken with Robert in several years now. I don't know if he will ever turn around. All we can do, and probably the best thing to do, is to leave him to God. So, I pray for him most days.
