Sad, sad day...

This morning, I got an email from a police officer in River Forest, Illinois, asking if I was the Peg McNary who was the sister of Floyd Douglas Covill--that Mr. Covill was ill and could not speak for himself.  I immediately called, only to learn that my brother passed away yesterday.  He was in a store where he simply collapsed, dead.  He was 52.  So today, our sister Shari and I are scrambling to make arrangements, etc., by long distance, on a legal holiday...

Doug never married.  He had a long-term female apartment-mate who knows very little about his personal affairs...and he estranged himself from Shari and me back in 1999 with the sale of our family farm.  (He didn't want to sell, but the other four of us [two sisters and two cousins] in the farm partnership did.)  He felt betrayed and declared that, as far as he was concerned, his sisters were dead to him.  (He still talked to the cousins, however!)  Shari and I made attempts over the years to let him know that we were still here for him.  All were rebuffed.  And now he is gone, and the sisters whom he denied must now sadly make his funeral arrangements, knowing that there are no more opportunities to be a whole family again in this lifetime.

I would be a hypocrite if I said I will miss Doug, since I have been forced to live without him for these last 8 or 9 years--but I miss what might have been, if that makes any sense.  Doug was just...Doug.  He had his own logic and his own opinions.  Arguing with him about anything was pointless because changing his mind about an issue was simply not possible.  I have always said that my brother walked the fine line between genius and insanity!

Doug was the baby of the family--the only boy after three girls (only two of which survive).  He was the cutest little curly-haired fellow, born on Halloween in 1953.  Named Floyd Douglas, he was to be called by his middle name.  (When he was born, Dad declared that he was NOT to be called "Dougie"--and he never was.  Dad usually just called him "The Boy"!)  He went through all 12 grades of school in Oak Park, IL, and enlisted in the Navy at age 19.  He served for 9 years before leaving the service for employment as an electrician in the Chicago area where he has been ever since.  He was an absolute animal lover, taking in wounded or orphaned animals for Trailside Museum in Oak Park to care for before release back into the wild.  He was brilliant, inventive, creative...and stubborn beyond belief!  He was active in genealogical research for our family as well as maintained award-winning websites for cemeteries in our "hometown" area of central Illinois.  (Most notably Moon Point Cemetery in Livingston County, IL.) 

My tears tonight are for me--what could have been and what is lost.  Doug never met my grandchildren; never saw my little bungalow in Indiana.  Shari and I will endeavor to honor his wishes, as much as they are known, and give him a funeral with all of the dignity and honor that befit a veteran and brother. 

Rest in peace, Doug.  Your family never stopped loving you.