Good morning! Welcome to a toasty Thursday !
But I’m not here today to talk of my trials as the middle
child. I was blessed beyond measure with
the family I had and have. I have no
complaints. And if I did have
complaints, I probably wouldn’t air them in this venue. Besides, complaining about things that were
true 60 to 70 years ago isn’t productive because the past is just that…past.
No, I’m here to talk a bit about the oldest brother. Some of you may know him…our oldest brother
Max Plank. Now, while all of us have
excelled in some area of life…Dennis in real estate, myself in health care and
ministry, Marianne in educational psychology, Linda in community service, and
Kevin in technology, Max has spent his life in music and music education.
At Eastern Michigan University, Max held several different
roles in a life-long career there.
Accomplished musician, professor, composer and director, he helped shape
the lives of countless students and friends.
In retirement, he remains active in the community, his church, his
family, as well as in the music field.
His career is one to be admired. His accomplishments could fill a book. Many of his students still maintain contact
with him many years after retirement. He
is still in demand as an adjudicator for music festivals, as well as for the
occasional compositions he writes and sometimes directs.
More importantly, however, he is the glue that helps to hold
us all together. As the oldest, we still
respect his opinions and ideas regarding the family, and look to him for
familial leadership when necessary. We
have annual reunions as a family and extended family…usually lasting three days
over a long weekend at some kind of resort or encampment. Max is an integral part of the planning and
execution of many of those reunions.
I don’t know where you fall in your family and sibling dynamics. You may have a family similar to ours…we love
each other and respect & celebrate our differences as well as our
commonalities. Or you may come from a
dysfunctional family. Your memories and
experiences may be anything but pleasant.
Or you may not have a family. You
may have been in the foster care system or orphaned. We all have different experiences with family
and family units.
We are grateful for our family unit. We are grateful for Max and his leadership
and example. And we are grateful to God
for preserving us until this day. There
will come a time when we will not be a complete family. We will begin to lose family members to
illness and death. When those days come,
and they certainly will come, we will celebrate life, celebrate family, and
celebrate the love of God in thankful praise.
Blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment