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My heart tells me that you are here always, that you are always by my side giving me the strength to wake up in the morning
and the strength to make it through my days. I have always been a person who relied highly on sight, one of those who didn't
believe it unless I saw it. Yet, somehow I know you are here. I know that you put those words in my mouth at your memorial
service. I know that it was your strength running through my body at that moment. It is just so hard to know that when I graduate
and when I get married I won't be able to look out and see your beautiful smiling face. It has been so difficult getting out
of bed on the bad days knowing that I can't walk across the hall and have you put a smile on my face within the hour. It
is hard to not be snotty to people that ask how I'm doing because all I want to say is 'Imagine losing your brother, best
friend, father, protector, and room mate all at the exact same instance and then you have some small idea as to how I'm doing.'
It is so hard to not hate God. So hard for me to admit that He needed you more than I do because I know how badly I need you.
Since I can't have your smile, your face, your jokes, and your advice to get me through my days I am forced to rely on all
that you have taught me in the past, which is a lot. I don't know if I ever told you this, but I am the person that I am today
because of you. Rob and mom kept me out of trouble, but you helped me to be a quality person, a loyal person, a trustworthy
person, a caring person. Almost everything in my personality that is good came from you in some way or another. I guess that
is another comfort, knowing that you are living through me, that you are guiding me and pointing me in the right directions.
Anyways, this section isn't built by me to make people cry. I want to put some of our childhood memories in here to make everyone
laugh and know what kind of person you were and still are.
I know you're here........
What's
The Number To Heaven?
What’s
the number to heaven?
I just
want to call to say I love you.
To hear
your smiling voice,
And your
therapeutic laugh.
I want
to joke with you like old times,
And laugh
about the years passed.
I want
to tell you about my day,
And ask
you for advice.
When I
get the number to heaven,
I will
say to God,
“Excuse
me sir, sorry to bother you,
But could
I please speak to my brother?
I miss
him oh so much.”
Then he
would place me on hold,
And interrupt
your game of dominoes to say,
“Jesse,
you have a phone call,
It’s
your sister,
It’s
nothing serious, she just misses you.”
Then you
would get on the phone and say,
“Well
hello there little sister,
Long time
no talk.
I miss
you oh so much too
But I’m
doing well here,
I’ve
made a lot of friends.
We play
games every day
And watch
you and mom.
You are
doing well little sister,
You will
make it.
I see
your tears little sister
And I
feel your pain.
Don’t
be sad little sister
For I
am happy now.
Just remember
that I am with you always
And I
will never leave your side.
But I
have to go now
And you
have to go too.
Make something
of yourself
And make me proud.
Good luck and Good bye…
…Oh and I love you too”
-Toni-Jo Marie Younker.
Memories
The Frogs
Let me just lay the scene for everyone. Years ago we lived in Houston, Texas and about a mile from our house was a bayou
(Houston is full of them). Jesse and I liked to walk down to the bayous in the middle of the day in the summer time while
our parents were at work. We had tried to fish a couple of times, not with fishing poles but with our hands, with no luck.
So being the smart kids that we were, we weren't about to walk a mile and leave empty handed, so we caught some frogs/toads
and put them in the container we had brought and started to make our way home with our new pets, knowing full and well that
we wouldn't be able to keep them. In our house my parents kept all doors locked, the door to the laundry room, which led to
the garage as well, the pantry and the door to their bedroom. While Jesse was in the restroom I made the mistake of trying
to pet one of the frogs and it hopped away. While I was trying to catch the one frog, the other one escaped and followed his
friend into the locked laundry room. After Jesse got out of the restroom and I told him what I had done he started to
get a little bit scared, it was about 4:30 pm and our parents usually arrived home around 5:00 or 5:15, so that didn't leave
us much time to break into the laundry room, find the frogs, catch the frogs, get rid of the frogs and replace everything
so our parents didn't know. Him being the locksmith that he was, started to break into the laundry room. We looked around,
no frogs. So we had to pull the washer and dryer out. We managed to catch one frog but the other one made it's way back into
the living room where we had to track it down and catch it. Jesse replaced the washer and dryer, fixed everything that was
out of place, relocked the door, threw the frogs outside and washed the container. It always amazed me how we could get into
SO much trouble while my parents were at work, and no matter what it was, the mess was always cleaned up no more that ten
minutes before they got home. Needless to say, they never knew anything until Jesse and I were talking about it years later.
The River Pooper Scooper
I wasn't going to put this one up, but it was a special request from Micheal. I also figured that this describes Jesse
in a nut shell and how he was fun loving and didn't care about much as long as he was making someone smile. He was also someone
that you didn't ever want to bet because he will ALWAYS win.
About a month ago Jesse and I had taken a trip to New Braunfels to go tubing on the river (which if you have ever gone,
is only fun if you're drunk). And anyone who has ever been drunk knows how often you have to pee when you drink. And anyone
who knows Jesse knows that we were extremely close and that we did a lot of strange things together, including having a pee
contest in the river. (Real lady-like huh?) So me being slightly intoxicated ask him how many points I would get if I pooped
in the river, of course the answer was that I would win the game for life. About 20 minutes pass and he just looks at me and
is like, "Well, are you gonna do it?" I said, "No, I was just wondering. I don't have anything to do it with." So looks at
me, shrugs his shoulders and starts to pull the back half of his shorts down so his bare bottom is dragging in the water.
A few moments later he looks at me and is like, "I did it." So in disbelief I call him a liar. He reaches down and pulls his
hand back up out of the water with poop on it....From that day forward he became known as 'The River Pooper Scooper'.
The Water Fight
Anybody who has ever been to our house knows that our step-dad has this beautiful pool table that he had bought while
we lived in Houston. He was very protective of this pool table and very insistent that nobody touched it while he wasn't at
home. Even while he was at home he was extremely leary about which of Jesse's friends were allowed to play pool with Jesse
on his table. Contrary to what everyone thinks, this wasn't without reason.
When we all still lived in Houston, the pool table was in the gamesroom right outside of my bedroom door. It was of course
the middle of summer (that's when we always got into trouble) and our parents were at work. Jesse had made me so angry because
he kept singing this REALLY annoying song (I can't even remember what song it was, some country song) that I kept screaming
"shut up" as loud as I could until I lost my voice. So he tells me to go lay down and he'll bring me a cup of water. He comes
into my room with the water and starts pretending like he's visisting me in the hospital and is like, "You have a visiter."
He goes to get the "visiter" and he starts singing that stupid song again. So I get out of bed and start to chase him. He
starts running around the pool table. I grab my cup of water and throw it at him, totally missing him but soaking the pool
table. Obviously, this wasn't one of the times that we had the mess cleaned up by the time our parents got home. Rob went
out the very next day and bought a cover for the pool table.
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