(Andrée here.) Similarity between these three guys? Well, there IS some - you can tell a Purdom man a mile off, I think. (Helpful note in case you're new here: these are my three brothers. L to R: Hans, Sean, Erik. Not in order of origin.)
That's not where I was heading today. I've been reading a little of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, thinking I can always stand to bolster my stoicism. Imagine my surprise to find him musing upon his brother in ways I recognize well from being around Erik:
...From my brother Severus, to love my kin, and to love truth, and to love justice; . . . I learned from him also consistency and undeviating steadiness in my regard for philosophy; and a disposition to do good, and to give to others readily, and to cherish good hopes, and to believe that I am loved by my friends; and in him I observed . . . that his friends had no need to conjecture what he wished or did not wish, but it was quite plain....
Doesn't that sound like E? And what an odd, random comfort to find in the words of a long-dead Stoic philosopher a vivid feeling of my brother's ways and values. Yet another way to find him at my shoulder. As we go forward into 2018 I hope you too cherish good hopes and the love of your friends.
