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My wife, Maria, grew up in the Eastern Orthodox tradition and our two sons were baptized in that religion. It is an Eastern Orthodox practice that the 40th day after a death is a day of remembering the departed. As such, I am going to devote today's post to memories of my youngest brother, Doug Steele, who drowned on January 8 while swimming in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of El Salvador. Doug was 54 and would have turned 55 had he lived two more days.

Doug was four years younger than me. When we were young, he never wanted to be left behind. Whatever I was doing, or our brother Greg was doing, Doug wanted to do it too and wouldn't take "no" for an answer. To keep up, he had to work twice as hard and do his absolute best. That imbued qualities in him that would last his entire life. At almost everything he attempted, Doug would excel. But, even if he didn't excel, he did his very best. Doug loved cross-country running and was a dedicated member of his high school team. He was short of stature and found it difficult to keep up with the long strides of the taller kids. But that didn't discourage him. He made such an impression as a runner that his high school cross-country coach traveled almost 3 hours in order to attend and speak at Doug's memorial service. As a high school wrestler, Doug set several school records and still holds the record for the most wins in his weight class. His wrestling coach described him as "the most productive wrestler in the 25-year history" of his high school.