Mary's brother George passed away yesterday. He had broken his neck diving into a pool over 43-44 years ago so had lived a long and full life in a wheelchair, immersed in books, sports -- especially Michigan football and basketball, and music. When I met him he was first and foremost a Neil Young fan, but over time he evolved into a Little Feet fanatic, in fact evolving into their primary archivist of bootleg recordings.
George was a remarkably calm and steady presence. He made peace with where he was and made the best of it. He shared an enthusiasm for military history which drew him close to Graham and formed the core of long phone conversations they would have, often on Friday afternoons. They would talk for a long time and I think it was super meaningful for both of them.
There was one particularly memorable day when Graham, George and I went to West Point with Sam, George's longtime aide (he was at our wedding in 1997) to West Point. It was a pretty special day, especially going into the museum where Graham and George traded stories. Much of the time Graham was quasi-lecturing George on this or that detail or campaign. He was still pretty little and hadn't had a lot of social skills training just yet. George dug it, in any case.
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