Men and decorating

Two things struck me as I meditated about this month’s entry. The first is that this is November and is the first year that I opted to grow a moustache to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer and men’s health issues. For every guy, there is a rite of passage into manhood marked by many different milestones. Undeniably, one such milestone is a guy’s first beard, announcing to the world his ability to grow facial hair. I feel that I can take this opportunity to take a shot at Andrew’s ability or lack thereof to grow facial hair. Being fare haired, it took a long time for Andrew’s facial hair to grow to a length that would be readily noticed. By this time it would have been weeks behind the growth of whomever else, likely as a dare or challenge, was growing facial hair with Andrew. Because of this, for the most part Andrew kept clean shaven, however Andrew took the time and bore the ribbing for a few goatees in his day. Certainly can’t say he was a quitter, having toughed it out long enough for anyone to notice his stubble.

This brings me to my second thought. As has been stated in previous posts, Andrew was very much into decorating. Probably for the past decade (or more) anytime the family got together there would discussions about home decoration. Andrew and Sarah had some fantastic places including; the apartment overlooking the park, the little place on York St. and their house on Hill St. I recall how Andrew, Sarah and Alison would discuss home decorating to no end (or at least that was it seemed like to me at the time). I was either living as a student or renting apartments where there was no thought of decorating, as such I never really engaged in the conversations. In the few years since Andrew passed away, I’ve been wishing I had had more desire to take part in those conversations especially as I close on my own house in just a matter of days. I’m finally in a position where I could join in the conversation with my older siblings and get excited about furniture coverings, paint swaths and lighting.

Having been the younger brother, I felt that I was constantly a few years behind Andrew. Whether it was behind in the beard growing contests (or Moustaches for Movember) or the in-depth discussions about homes and decorating, I was not quite in the same place in life as Andrew. At the time I wasn’t concerned, I always knew I would catch up with Andrew and would be able to discuss topics with more relevance then. Sadly, time was not on our side and many of life’s milestones and discussions that I had looked forward to having with Andrew simply will never be.