Friday, November 27, 2020
Here is part of a post about my brother I put on Facebook.
Jim was especially proud of his service in the United States Navy.
Here are some things my brother liked: animals (especially their dog Scout and cat Chelios); the Wolverines, the Irish, Tigers, Lions, and Red Wings; The Rolling Stones, Eagles, The Who, Paul McCartney, and many others; he especially loved seeing these teams and bands in person with Kendra.
Jim liked to play poker, and he was very good at it. Some of the fondest memories I have are of playing cards at the poker parties he and Kendra used to host. I especially fondly remember the games when my dad, brother and I would all be playing together.
Here are some other memories I have.
When I was a kid I was a little confused by my brother’s name. Everyone called him Jimmy, but I also knew his name was James. So for a while I thought his full name was Jimmy James Jackson.
He loved to play baseball at Kennedy Park.
When we were kids, there were some barn swallows dive-bombing everyone in the yard. Someone, my dad maybe, dispatched the birds, and my brother had the task of burying them. I remember my mom describing my brother’s shoulders shaking up and down as he did the task, because he was crying at the death of those birds. Jim Jackson had a very kind soul.
During the time Jim served in the Navy, I was active in the peace and anti-nuclear movement. Jim gave my some Navy sweatpants, which were not the sort of thing I’d have bought for myself at that time, being hard-headed politically. I appreciated them for what they were: a gift of kindness from one brother to another. My brother’s kindness taught me a lesson: appreciate people for who they are and what they care about.
Once, when I was in college and he was still in the Navy, he came home on leave and we went to the horseraces at Saginaw Valley Downs. We were treading water betting, and put all we had left on the last race and won, and we were VERY excited at the $20 or so we had just profited. As we were leaving, Jim drove the wrong way down a one-way street and we got pulled over. When asked for his ID, Jim gave his Navy ID, and the officer indicated he was a former Navy man and let us go with a warning.
I remember Jimmy (so many of us still called him that all his life) dancing in the upper deck centerfield bleachers at Tiger Stadium to “Some Kind of Wonderful” by Grand Funk during a game. He wasn’t a big dancer, so this memory really stands out, because it’s so incongruous with his reserved personality. But I can see it like it was yesterday: him with a Tigers cap on, wearing a striped shirt, jeans and with a plastic cup in his hand.
I remember going to the Palace with him to see Plant and Page. He was so excited, he could barely contain himself during the concert. He experienced pure joy at seeing and hearing those guys that night.
We are all going to miss him.
Stay home when you can. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.
