A short YouTube personal-reflection by Sandi L Boucher (Red Thunderbolt, Loon clan, Seine River First Nation, Treaty 3 territory) honoring her brother whom she calls an 'angel on Earth'. She explains that although she follows Anishinaabe teachings (not Christianity), she uses 'angel' as a metaphor for someone indispensable. She recounts family structure (four siblings), close similarities with one brother, past distance and recent reconnection (monthly visits), celebrating his 60th birthday, estrangement from her youngest brother due to life choices, and the passing of her eldest brother. She invites viewers to name and reach out to their own 'angels on Earth'—call, text, email, or take someone to lunch—because life is not guaranteed.
Questions this video answers
Sandi L Boucher
September 21, 2023
His 60th birthday (a surprise 60th party is described)
Chapters
So I have a different kind of question for you today. Do you have any siblings? And if you do, what would you tell me about them? What would they tell me about you? Let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Boucher. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River first nation in Treaty 3 territory in Northern Ontario. And. And today I wanted to talk about, well, someone I consider an angel on Earth. Now, I am not Christian. I follow my traditional Anishinaabe teachings and ceremonies and practices. But so when I refer to an angel on Earth, what I mean is one of those people that I just want to. I don't want to imagine doing my life without them. And I have been blessed to know so many people like that. But siblings fall into a totally different category because they knew us when we were just little humans and they knew us when maybe we had crazy dreams that eventually came true or crazy dreams that we forgot about. They have watched our highs and our lows and we've watched theirs. And truth be told, who knows us better than them? And they can definitely call you, oh, Tom, your bs. I am thrilled to have a brother I adore. Now, this is going to sound absolutely horrible, but growing up in my family, there were four of us, and. And my eldest brother was quite a bit older, and then the three younger, we were all three years apart. So my eldest brother, my next older brother, me and my youngest brother. And the point of this is me and my next older brother are so much alike. I don't know if he'd say that, but I definitely see it. We. We have my dad's personality. We're very friendly and outgoing. We. We have a lot of friends. People enjoy our company, very intelligent, pick up things quickly, multifaceted. So he has always been a joy. I shouldn't say that he is a joy in my world, even though at one point in time he was the brother reading my diary. And even worse than telling my parents what he read in my diary, I told you, I've been writing my entire life. And there were years where we didn't see each other very much. In fact, there were some years that the only time I saw him was on his birthday, which happens to be today, which is why he's on my mind. And I'm thrilled that we have reconnected. We now see each other once a month, maybe, and today I'm taking him out for lunch because I adore him. He. He. He has been my biggest fan and my biggest critic. There are times he cheered me on, and there's times I have no doubt he prayed for me, and I've done same. But I love the fact, like a couple years ago now, I guess I went to his surprise 60th birthday party and. And I remember when I hugged him to say happy Birthday, I just whispered in his ear, did you ever picture this? And he kind of just laughed and said, nope. Because the reality is when we were playing at the. In the house that we grew up in, when we were, you know, teenagers, doing our thing, I know I never pictured my brother being 60 years old. I never pictured myself being 57. Next year I turn 60. So I'm just really, really glad he's still here. And today I get to celebrate that. So this is my invitation to you to make a list of your angels on earth. Who are you so thrilled is in your world and are your siblings on that list and should they be? And I understand sometimes they can't be because of the path they've chosen or the path you might be on. I don't speak to my youngest brother, and that's in direct result to the path he's chosen. I wish he had chose a different path. That's not judgment. That's reality. I can't join him on that path. And my oldest brother is gone now. And I love the fact that we got to spend some quality time together before we lost him. So who are your angels on earth? And do you need to make a phone call, send a text, send an email, or take someone to lunch? If you do, I hope you do. Don't just think about it, do it. Because no one's guaranteed tomorrow. And I'm gonna take all the time I got to enjoy my brother. I hope you enjoyed this personal little sharing. I had to honor the day and a man that means everything to me. Until tomorrow. I love you. Take care. Bye. Bye.
