Since I was 3, We've Been 4

Since I was three years old, we've always been a quartet of Anyaso siblings led by our big brother Vincent. There is an eight year difference between my oldest brother and my baby brother. I hold the third spot on our squad (3rd oldest or 2nd youngest depending on how you see it). Vincent's leadership of our squad was by no means traditional. No, he led by showing us what not to do. 

• Don't ride your bike so fast down the alley hill that you scare your siblings. 
  
• Don't drive the family Volvo station wagon into your neighbor's (aka mother's colleague) cinderblock wall when you're 14 years old. 
• Don't be held accountable so much by your high school that your aunt could have driven cross country with all the miles she put on her car driving to your school (Thanks SSFS for letting him graduate)
• Don't have the best freshman college year socially, but consider doing the work as optional. 

However, on second thought, perhaps Vincent wasn't just showing us what not to do, but how to do it in your own way in your own time. 

• Sometimes you have to enjoy being a kid and the rush of flying down the bike on your bike
• When driving, it's important to slow down before you take that turn and being able to drive stick shift will come in handy. 
• When you push, you learn how far you can take it and who believes in you no matter what. 
• Not everyone is ready to go to college immediately after high school. Perhaps a career in the U.S. Marine Corps is a better education so that when you are ready, you will not only finish college, but go to law school and be the valedictory speaker at your law school graduation. 

To say the last three years have been hard is an understatement. My six days sitting with him in the hospital in 2018, included talking to him, playing music, reading the paper to him, and hoping that while he could not communicate with me, perhaps he could still hear me and maybe he’d just wake up. I spent so many days going and praying. It’s been over three years since I’ve heard his voice, his laugh, or his "what’s happening’? What’s crackin’.

There is so much that’s happened in my life the past three years that he doesn’t even know, but of which he would be so proud. We often talked about the ways in which we were alike, such as our committment to our family, investment in our careers or even the way we stay in touch with people over the years and across continents. Now to be honest, we were more different than we were alike, but as we got older it’s the similarities that seem to resonate more. As someone who liked to do things on his own terms and in his own way, it only seems fitting that today, Veteran's Day, was his last day on this earth; a day that meant a lot to him. He loved and served his country, his Marine Corps, and, most of all, his family. I miss my big brother. While he’s no longer with us on this earth, I know he and my Aunt Shelly are watching over us. Rest in Peace and in Power, GySgt Vincent Chiedum Anyaso, JD. Semper Fidelis!