Posted by David McReynolds on Facebook:

John Michael McReynolds 1955 - 2020 John was 5 years older than me. Our middle brother Roger was just 18 months younger than John, therefore the two were closer growing up. I wanted to share Roger’s thoughts about our brother. Roger: -My memory is very selective. I tend to remember the good things and negative things seem to fade away. Just so you know, our brother is known as Mike to our family and started using his first name John when we moved to Korea from Japan so all of his friends know him only as John. As I was close in age to Mike, we hung out with the same friends growing up in Japan and later in Korea. I have many fond memories of our childhood and remember him as a supportive brother who always watched out for me. He was always quiet and reserved but gave me a lot of brotherly advice over the years that became a part of my character. I don’t remember ever having a violent fight with him. Sometimes I would annoy him enough so he would chase me somewhere and slapped me once on my head and that would be it. I had a big mouth when I was young and luckily my brother was forgiving. Mostly he was a good big brother. He was very introverted and didn’t make friends easily, so the people he felt close to were precious to him. He never seemed to mind being alone but did appreciate those few he would let into his world. In later years, even when he was struggling with his inner demons, he was always thoughtful and considerate to Karen and me when we would visit and would tolerate our hugs and affection in small doses. We understood his need for distance and would give him plenty of space but he would show us his affection by having a conversation or even going on some outings with us. Over the last few years, his demons got the better of him and he slowly slipped away from us.

I like to think that when you pass into your next existence, you shed all of your demons to start anew. That’s the only way I can think of him. I will always love my brother Mike. I will always remember the good stuff and let the bad stuff fade away.