Of course Billy's sisters are the only people in the world who are allowed to call him Billy...he prefers Bill, or Wild Bill as many of his friends and associates know him!
My brother has always walked a hair on the wild side. His passion for living has allowed him to take chances that I suppose many people would not take. I don't mean chances where he invites danger so much, although he did take a dive in the sky on his daughter's 21st birthday with her. He creates opportunities for himself that I would guess most people never see. At 8 years old he discovered he could make a lot of money selling his Halloween candy at school. The boy cleaned up. At 11 or 12, he got brought home by the park police on a number of occasions for diving into the pond on the golf course and selling golf balls back to the golfers.
Bill is also a high school drop-out who married his pregnant girlfriend at a very young age. He went to work in the steel mills of Buffalo at 17 in order to support his family; work he was never really cut out to do as he is a man of small stature. Succeed he did though and became a highly qualified steel cutter.
His life long dream was to write comedy and in a daring move to attain his goals, interviewed for a job with a radio station selling air time and writing commercials parttime so he could continue working at the mill as well. The intelligent man that hired him at that time truly was visionary in that he hired a kid with no education or experience to do this very complex job. He exceled, as he always does and his talent has taken him far. He is now a 20 year veteran of radio and presently a top dollar seller at the station he works for. He has written many extremely funny commercials over the years and made a lot of money for the people he's worked for..and himself.
Corporate control of his field has taken it's toll though, and Bill is ready for a change. I don't know what direction he will take, but I know he will be good at it.
As my brother, he has always inspired me with his will and motivation to attain his goals. Bill has a never-give-up attitude and lion-sized drive held within a pussy cat demeanor. I use the cat as my metaphor because Bill is a Leo. He is loyal to a fault...literally, and has provided more moments of gut-aching laughter than the rest of us put together. Sometimes his humor is subtle...like softly singing during a card game. One hears the tune for the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, but Bill's words sing about the wreck of the Ella Fitzgerald. During his visit last year, the story he was telling us became so animated that when he actually took a dive and fell on his head, we all laughed heartily thinking it was part of his performance! Oh..poor Bill
But truly, that is the length he will go to for comedy!
Whatever the chapter in his life, Billy has approached it with enthusiasm, positivity and finesse. As a high school drop-out he has attained a level of career and material success that many college educated people wouldn't even dream of. As a teenage father he succeeded in raising two incredibly wonderful girls who are a credit to their generation and highly successful in their chosen fields. As a husband he has maintained a level of loyalty and committment I can hardly fathom; for he continues to love and support his teenage sweetheart even though she left him over 10 years ago to strike out on her own. That is a very long story in itself but suffice it to say that she can still count on him to be there when she needs him and that's almost unheard of.
Billy doesn't consider himself generous; yet he has continually given to me deeply from his heart and soul and has always spoken the truth.
Billy doesn't consider himself empathic, yet his immediate sensing of unease in someone else belies that assumption.
Bill considers himself a man of inflated ego and selfish desire, yet his thoughts are always about the other people in his life and his tears are never for himself.
He is a humble man, with a large and comical heart, full of love and concern for humanity at large. I sure love my brother...he's a good man.
