I'm With You

Today is my brother Que's birthday. It has been several years since he passed, but I still think about him nearly on a daily basis. We keep a teddy bear made out of one of his old shirts on a chair at home, and I think of him every time I see it. This month is special because a new Red Hot Chili Pepper album is coming out, the first one in 5 years. The only RHCP fan as big as me that I ever knew was Que.

Growing up, Que often rebelled against the same things that I liked, particularly music. However, over time he came to like many of the same bands I listened to. When I left on my mission 6 years ago, he gladly inherited my CD's and music library. When he wrote to me, he'd often talk about all the new music that was coming out that I would have liked to be listening to. My family would also record messages on little tapes that I could play on a tape recorder. I remember on one of these tapes Que recorded a few snippets from several of the songs off a new RHCP that had been just released so I could get a "preview" of what I was missing. I'll admit, I did enjoy listening to it.

Now our position is reversed; I'm able to listen the new album when it comes out while Que is off serving his mission somewhere in the spirit world. I wish I could send him a tape with a few samples of the new songs. The new album is entitled "I'm With You", and I like to think of it as a reminder that Que is indeed right here with me. The spirit world is located here on earth, I just can't see him now. We're going to have a lot to catch up on someday.