My Brother Baldur

Yes, my brother's name was Baldur, who was named after our Dad. Baldur was also the name of a god in Norse mythology associated with light, beauty, love and happiness.

Today is Baldur's 68th birthday, but he passed from this earth 2 years ago, a couple of weeks after his 66th birthday. Losing him was a huge shock for his family. He appeared to be quite healthy, ate right, was physically active, was very engaged with his own business (he was a mechanical engineer and very innovative), and attentive to his wife, daughters, and grandchildren.

When his wife called to tell me he had died, I really couldn't comprehend what she was saying. I knew that her father was quite ill and thought for sure she meant to say that her father had died, not that my brother had died.

She lost her husband, which is tragic. But his daughters lost their father, his grandchildren their GrandDaddy, his sisters their brother, and his nephews and nieces their uncle. His friends lost a good friend.

Baldur was not a huge talker. He had an analytical mind and you could just see those gears turning in his head even though he said very little. He was a huge Texas Longhorn fan and loved watching the UT football games. He was always very inventive and mechanically minded.

When we were kids growing up, he had a paper route in our neighborhood. At that time, the paper boys would roll up each newspaper from their stacks and tie string around them. This was before the proliferation of plastic bags that now litter our world. He invented and built a little machine out in our garage that would roll up each newspaper and tie the string around it. I think he operated it with a bicycle wheel or something.

He loved cars and engines, and in high school he bought a '56 Chevy and put in a super hopped up V6 Pontiac engine -- at least that is what I remember him putting in there. He had it painted a gold color with red flames along the side. It was the ultimate 1950's cool car. Later he got an old Model A Ford or something near it, I think it was a 1929 model. He put a new engine in that of course. He later regretted ever letting go of it.

Our Dad, the first Baldur, had a really smooth Mercury Marquis, long and green. After our Dad died at the age of 68 of heart disease, Baldur kept the Mercury for many, many years. I wish we still had it.

We all miss Baldur a lot, and I especially think of him on his birthday and when UT plays an especially exciting and winning football game. I hope his grandchildren will keep him in their memories all their lives and know what a special GrandDad he was.