My younger brother is an interesting fellow. He is the youngest of 5 children brought up by catholic parents. Born in 1984 (foreboding possibly), he did most of his actual growing up in the nineties, as did I really...but this post isn't about me. He was very interested in music. His first love were Foo Fighters, who are I believe a really good rock band, not great, but really good. From that he started listening to Nirvana (a little old for him but he was a smart kid and I think he got it mostly). He learned to play guitar, and does so quite well. He had friends and wasn't really interested in school despite his obvious intelligence.
Upon finishing high school he was not really sure what he wanted to do. I'm embarrassed to admit that at this point in his life I was so wrapped up in my own life that I don't really remember what he did. I know he ended up trying to go to college but couldn't get motivated to excel there. He took jobs as a mechanic, a job which I'm told he is great at, but never loved it. He always said that he couldn't stand hanging with the people that that industry attracted - which I think is fair. He seemed to be a bit adrift for a couple of years; working jobs but only to pay his bills.
Then he decided to move to Afghanistan and work for the military as a mechanic. This decision was hard for my family to accept. Both me and one of my sisters moved overseas for a time after university, probably for different reasons, but maybe both partly because we didn't know what we were going to do with our lives. My family was supportive of our decisions but because my brother was moving into a war zone they felt a little less than thrilled, no doubt worried about him. I gained no sympathy from my family when I endorsed his move to the middle east. My family tried to get me to dissuade him from going, which I politely declined to do. I figured a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. So leaving his mother father and four siblings in Canada he was off for an adventure.
I have always thought is important for young men to have adventures. Think of all the most interesting people you know. The reason these people are interesting is because of the stories they have....exotic locations, strange people they have encountered and harrowing accounts of dangerous situations they have found themselves in. I have a great uncle who would constantly tell us of his years spent in the north working for the Canadian government - run ins with bears and other dangerous animals. Having adventures when men are young is what allows them to settle down when they are older. This may be true for women too, but I know it's true for men.
After completing his contract in Afghanistan my brother returned safe and sound much to our collective relief. He took a job in Calgary and seemed to be finding his way.
About a week ago he called me and told me he was going back. He said he didn't know what he wanted to do, and was just spinning his tires so he might as well go back and make a bunch of money while he was figuring things out. He leaves in about a week. Now, I know he will be fine, statistically he is probably safer there than living in some of the sketchier neighborhoods in Toronto. So I'm not worried. It did, however, remind me of how restless I was when I was his age, and how much I bummed around bartending and traveling and really just looking for a path. The irony of my search was that I discovered that I don't think anyone really knows what they want to do and end up just settling for something to pass the time......hope his works out a little better.
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