Shiva and thank you to the people who gave such wonderful comments

I am afraid I cannot contain my feelings. It is hard enough dealing with the anniversary of my dad's death and trying to repair my relationship with my mother. Today the fact that my brother is gone also hit me like a ton of bricks. I have been sleeping most of the day. So to those of you who read For My Dad On The Third Anniversary Of His Death and Well I Finally Got Up The Nerve To Call My Mom Today I wanted to say thank you for all your kind comments. You will never know how truly appreciated they are. I wanted to give a special thanks to Doyle and Rick L. who knew my dad's work and commented on it and on him.

In Judaism it is customary to sit Shiva when someone has died. In Judaism, shiv'ah or shiva (Hebrew: שבעה ; "seven") is the week-long period of grief and mourning for the seven first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. (Grandparents and grandchildren are not included). As most regular activity is interrupted, the process of following the shiv'ah ritual is referred to as sitting shiva. Shiva is part of a suite of customs for bereavement in Judaism. This is from a Wilipaedia article, if you are interested in learning more click on the link. I was brought up secular (totally without religion) and so we did not sit Shiva when people died. Since I don't know exactly when my brother died I have decided to change my avatar for the seven days to honour him and my father.

I am really tired now so I am going back to bed. I don't really think I can do justice to your articles the way I am now anyway. I will probably be back tomorrow. Thank you again for all of your kind comments and words of advice.

Chana