I can’t remember the first time I met Jon, but that’s because I was only 2 years old when my Aunt Carla brought him home from the hospital.
What I can remember is that, from a very early age, he always felt more like a brother than a cousin to me.
Jon and I always seemed to be there for each other during our highest highs and our lowest lows, our lives woven together like the patchwork quilts of our Appalachian Scots-Irish ancestors.
Jon and I were both sweet-natured, sensitive, somewhat shy, and silly as young boys, perhaps due to the feminine energy of spending our infancy surrounded by our mothers, aunts, and Granny.
We were also both drawn to Grandad, a bearish mountain of a man with a strong work ethic, a successful career, a great knack for storytelling, an infectious laugh, and an affinity for shenanigans we both adored.
We still loved playing outdoors every chance we got, but our conversations became deeper and more meaningful. We talked on the phone often, helping each other through clashes with parents (or, in his case, his stepdad), crushes, heartbreaks, and all the usual coming-of-age challenges.
Even in times when it felt like we were all alone in our respective worlds, we always had each other. Jon was my best friend and confidant. He was so thoughtful, considerate, empathetic and, in many ways, wise beyond his years. Even as a kid, he always seemed to have an “old soul,” with Grandad as his #1 male role model.
It pains me a little to admit that Jon and I did not keep in touch as much as I would’ve liked in the years after he asked me to be a groomsman in his 2009 wedding to Elizabeth.
Our careers took us in different directions, but both were inspired by our grandparents.
Like Grandad, Jon loved working with his hands, and started his own successful home remodeling business. Inspired by Granny and Grandad’s love of travel, Mary and I launched Green Global Travel and Blue Ridge Mountains Travel Guide, visiting 50+ countries around the world.