My Brother « Love on Ottomatic

My Brother

My mother looked at this site today and said “Ishmun, you know, he could pass for your brother.”Â I told her, “Mom, he is.“

I met him in March of 2000.Â I was hiding behind a New Employee manual as a crazed giant was stomping up and down the halls railing against the evils of IBM screaming, â€œGET YOUR HANDS OUT OF MY POCKET!â€Â My God, he was huge and fiercely angry.Â I am no small guy but I was ducking low, hoping we woundnâ€™t make eye contact.Â â€œOh Shit!â€, I mumbled, he was looking straight at me and heading my way.Â He held out his hand, smiled warmly and said in a very professional voice, â€œHi, Iâ€™m Ottoâ€.Â I told him my name was Lee.Â He said, â€œWelcome, Lee, youâ€™ve just doubled the black population of IBM San Francisco.Â Iâ€™ll be right backâ€.Â I was left there mouth open and dumbfounded as he returned to his ranting without missing a step and stormed off screaming at the top of his lungs.Â Apparently, my first day at IBM was the beginning of his last.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â I came to San Francisco a conservative Republican preacherâ€™s kid who went to a military academy by choice.Â I was wearing an argyle sweater the day Otto asked me to go camping with him.Â Having no set plans over Labor Day weekend, I found myself at an Art Festival in the Nevada desert.Â GrosslyÂ unprepared.Â Our family grew out of that weekend and I am forever grateful. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Leaving the confines of the corporate world, this gentle giantÂ has devoted so much time and efforts to helping others from Girls 2000, Power to the Peaceful, Homourborus, Hunters Point Family and countless othes.Â It is no surprise so many are stepping up to help him.Â He is truly humbled by the outpouring of support. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Otto is a guy who when he walks into the room, you know heâ€™s there.Â Everyone talks about the presence he has about him but you have to be with him to experience it.Â I look forward to many more decades of that presence and smiled today thinking about sitting in a rocking chair next to my brother talking about that one time when he had cancer. Â And beat it!Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Click the comments section below to add your Otto story.

Much Love, Lee

P.S.Â My hippy brother turned me into a Green liberal.Â What a trip!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Sending Love. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to My Brother

Kim Strenk says:

October 17, 2007 at 8:25 am

What to say about Otto? Marcus and I have known Otto for more than a decade. He is the Godfather to our firstborn, Elke Wilhelmine. When Elke was born Otto was one of the first people to (awkwardly J) hold her in his arms. When it came time to choose a Godparent we did not care about â€œtraditionalâ€ Godparent type duties. We hoped that by choosing the right person, we would give our daughter the gift of someone extraordinary who would enrich her life with ideas, culture, experiences and love in ways we could not provide.

Thank you Otto for being that Godparent to our daughter. When she goes through adolescence and beyond, you are our ace in the hole. When she wonâ€™t come to us (which will be often) she will know her Godfather Otto is a cool cat that she can actually talk to about real life stuff.

All Otto Love All the Time,

The Strenkâ€™s

My Brother

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