Celebrating Pistol

My brother, Charles Lane, nicknamed "Pistol" by our Daddy when he was a child, turns 56 today. He is a very special "young" man. He was brain-damaged at birth (due to dr. neglect) and suffered spinal meningitis at 12 days old. His mentallity is about a 2 yr. old.

When he was 7, we placed him in the Denton (TX) State School system, and he continues to live under that umbrella but now he is with a foster family. Godsequence alert! Before my Mother was pregnant with him, my Daddy, who was a member of the TX legislature, wrote the legislation that created this wonderful facility.

He's won all kinds of medals through Special Olympics, works part-time for the local Goodwill and adores his family, especially his great-nephews. I bring him home at Christmas, which necessitates me flying to Dallas, renting a car to pick him up in Denton and flying back home with him. I repeat this process when I return him.

One of our activities when he's home is always bowling as he is a Gold Medal winner. Here he is teaching Colin how to bowl. He had his foster Mom order all of us bowling shirts with our name on it.

Colin loves his Uncle Pistol and they entertain each other for hours, enjoying the same movies and television shows.

Pistol was very excited to meet his newest grand-nephew this Christmas, Dylan. They spent lots of time on the floor together, talking their own special language.

He is so loving and friendly. When I visit him in Denton and go places with him, everybody knows Pistol. He always introduces me as his "cookie sister," because I regularly bake chocolate chip cookies and ship them to him. It's Colin's job to add M&M's to the top of each cookie.

We are so grateful for Pistol who brings us unconditional love and joy. Happy Birthday Pistol!