When I think about my brother, Barney, I instantly think how truly blessed we are to still have him with us. I wrote a little bit about him for Father’s Day.

Barney was born in Mercedes, Texas and our family roots are in Los Indios and San Benito. In 1987,(the year I graduated) he married his high school sweetheart Diana and then moved on to start his family in Cleburne, Texas.

We always reminisce about our days growing up from watching wrestling, to the story of SPI, listening to music and the ultimate conversations Sports!

Although we have many fun filled memories, there was a turning point in my brother’s life and it was the year of 2013. Barney suffered a massive heart attack and flat lined for 15 minutes. It was discovered my brother suffers from a rare heart disease called Brugada Syndrome and the doctor’s said to him that he was lucky to be alive; most persons do not live past 40 years old. On that September day, the Lord intervened, with the help of Daniel Cavazos, who saved my brother’s life by performing CPR. All of us can say we are forever grateful for the angel God sent to save my Barney’s life! We thank Dr. Theodore S. Takata, M.D. and Texas Harris Hospital who took good care of him. Extra shout out to Dr. Takata for discovering my brother’s illness.

If you meet Barney today, you could never tell he has a life threatening condition which he battles everyday. He is full of life, laughter, and love. You will also find that we both hum to different songs, make up our own lyrics and both worked at a Captain D’s(has anyone ever heard of the restaurant.

As I reflect from our days back in San Benito, I am always reminded music definitely plays a role in our lives and as I listen to the song “Today” by Brad Paisley I am blessed to say Barney is a survivor, a proud father to Bernabe(BJ) and Clarissa(Claire) and an amazing grandfather to Mya aka Big Naens, Kyree and Talia.

P.S. Osso, a Saint Pyrenees, joined the family a few months ago and by the looks of the picture you could not tell he is 6 months old and he is full of energy!