Joey, 

No stories today--just my love for you and precious memories.  I look at your picture frequently and it does not seem you are really not here in this dimension anymore.  I know this is not possible for Joy, Jim, Jerald, and grandkids.  

This was a very difficult time for you and family last year.  We were all wishing you a Happy Birthday.  

I do feel at peace for you now and know that you are back with God.  You were here to teach us all love, compassion, gentleness, and dedication.  You were a fantastic teacher and continue to be as we think of you often.  The memory of your loving support is ever present.  You are and were truly loved, my dearest brother.  Your divine grace glows for each of us.


Reni

Beautiful service. Our prayers and condolences to all the Reiner family. Tom and Teri Wanat.

Her calm presence in
Ongoing Spinning terror 
Joe’s strength and his rock

Gentle Brother mine
Burning your love through the stars
To our hearts forever

Back again for story snippets about my dear, dear big brother.  I love seeing the picture you chose for the website--it is so Joey.  I cry and smile when I see it.  So many memories:
-the blue scooter with the white lightning bolt on the side (high school)
-the silver armor chain mail costume for Halloween--really tin foil
-his jealousy when his friends started to notice his little sister
-his leaving for college 
-his baseball stretch as a first baseman--unparalled!
-his pride in his family--always
-his being there--always
-his learning to text  (finally) and how proud he was :)
-his calm presence and support for all when crises arose
-his small cooler he brought on his trips
-his love of ketchup--on anything and everything
-his attention to his health with screenings, exercise, etc
-his little red truck
-his love for his brother
-his 5 hour drive up for my birthday dinner and the immediate return trip--that is love
-his special birthday cards--he never forgot
-his connection with Rinko in Japan
-he always wanted a dog (maybe related to his french kissing our german shepherd as a boy)
-his shock with his diagnosis
-his suffering
-he taught us to be brave 
-his love
-his physical absence
-his freedom now to soar and always be there for each one of us

I love you dearest brother and hope you know I was always there for you--except during the teen years. :)

There was nobody like, Mr. Reiner.  I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to be around him often as a close friend of Jerald's during middle and high school, and then especially a lot during our senior year of high school while I lived under his roof.  He and Mrs. Reiner were generous beyond description to have opened up their home for me to be able to move back to San Antonio and graduate with friends.
I particularly enjoyed our dinners at home that year.  Eating together as a family seemed very important to him, not only because he loved to eat, but because he cared...he wanted to know how everyone was doing and wanted to make sure we were all doing ok.  He also loved to joke and give us a hard time in his own, caring way and dinner time gave him a forum to be able do that!  Even beyond the dinner-time conversations, he would regularly check in on me to make sure everything was ok and to ask if there was anything bothering me that I'd like to talk about.  Just a great, caring man who was engaged and present and made me feel that he loved me as his own.
Funny story to conclude...       
Within the first month I had moved in with them, he was ready to send me back after I stupidly poured at least a gallon of cooking oil and grease down the kitchen sink drain while "trying" to help clean the kitchen after dinner.  He was rightfully and justifiably ticked and paced back and forth rapidly (the Joe Reiner pace) in the kitchen while laughing kind of crazily and doing everything he could do to hold back and not go off on me...he ended up showing me a lot of grace. 
         

My dearest big brother!  I will be back to write more but top of mind is Joey's loving kindness and caring for all he met. His was a most gentle nature except when he was chasing me with a can of shaving cream.  Not sure how these things always started--even as adults- but we loved the chase.

I regret any suffering he and family went through during his illness.  But, I am glad he is on the other side of all that.
back soon