Both my siblings were quite a few years younger than I was. Once my first brother was old enough to sleep in a regular bed, we got bunk beds because we had such a small house. Daniel slept on the bottom bunk and I slept on the top bunk. One night a bad storm blew in with lots of loud thunder and lightning.
Mom said it was very loud and must have woken her up too. She remembered hearing me say “Daniel, Daniel are you awake?” She heard Daniel say yes, then she said I told him: “if you’re afraid, you can come up here and sleep with me.” Daniel realized at his young age that I hated storms and was afraid, so he said okay, I’ll come up.” Even as a younger child, he was looking out for the well-being of others, a characteristic I will always remember seeing in him starting at a very young age.
Image by tom marsall
