Wade Died
My Brother Wade died. Wade died almost two weeks ago. I wanted to write about it. Somehow I haven't.
I got my first case of Covid when I went out to see him in the hospital. I've been sick since. Jobs to do for Wade are all over my goal sheet. I try to do a little each day. It makes my goal sheet kind of suck.
I still get calls from his customers. I got one yesterday and two the day before. Sometimes they say nice things about him. Mostly they want to know what is going to happen with their jobs. Many of them paid money for services or equipment.
I can't help them. I listen to their stories and write down what they say. I refer them to one of Wade's associates. Maybe they can pick up the job. Maybe they cannot. If the client paid money for equipment then maybe their money is gone. They won't get it back.
One man called and said how he liked Wade and was receiving payments. He wanted to bill Wade's estate. There is no estate! The caller asked me for my email address. I declined to give it to him.
Wade died with a shitload of debt. For the last couple of years he seemed to be juggling projects and payments. In a financial game of musical chairs the last traunch of customers are left holding the bag.
I went to visit Wade in June of 2022 for two weeks. Wade had fallen off a ladder and he broke his hip. He had to have his hip replaced. Wade paid me to come out and help him. I drove him around to his jobs and to his bank. I prepared meals and clean his house.
One morning he fell down in the bathroom going to the toilet. His hip artificial popped out of the socket and he was propped up against the bathroom door. I had to call an ambulance and the EMT's forced the bathroom door open, whisked Wade out and took him away in an ambulance. At the hospital the doctor's popped his hip back in and in the afternoon Wade was good to go. I drove and picked him up.
Wade lived frugally. Wade's wife divorced him in 2018 and took the house. She left him with his business but she had been the bookkeeper and it was when she left that Wade's finances went off the rails.
Wade's shabby apartment was overpriced and his furniture was pretty ratty, except maybe for his bed. He had a second bedroom that was his music studio but he did not play much when I was there. He sang one night in a mousy voice. Most nights we watched cheesy action movies on his Roku.
There was almost no food in the apartment. I was determined not to starve while I was there. I went to grocery stores, one after another, to get food and supplies to make decent well-rounded meals. I remember the look of amazement and appreciation on Wade's face the night I presented salmon with vegetables and salad.
Wade had a thirty-year career installing solar energy panels in Los Angeles county. Most of the time things were good. For a short period Wade taught solar engineering to young people wanting to get into the business. His work associate tells me that people had a love / hate relationship with Wade.
When Wade went into the ICU I asked his landlord at his office to put my number on Wade's office door. I didn't know how to contact anyone. I have received calls both positive and negative for people.
Wade and I had reconnected over the last few years. I went to visit him twice. Wade wanted me to move to Los Angeles to be closer. I went and looked but it did not feel right for me.
Part of Wade's life will remain a mystery to me. Now there is a lot of wreckage to clean up. I am responsible for the disposition of Wade. I plan to bury his cremated remains in our family plot in Pennsylvania. I called the cemetery. My dad bought plots for each of us. My other brother Paul is buried there.
Because there is no money I am having Wade cremated at the Los Angeles County crematorium. I filled out the form to give to Kaiser Hospital to release Wade's body yesterday. The form is very creepy. The county says it will take three months for my brother to be cremated.