Brian Jones

Brian was my older brother, almost 10 years in fact. In my earliest memories of him, he was that silly older brother who could make the best noises; he had Donald duck down perfectly and would always be able to get me laughing like a child. Our father Daniel Sr passed away when I was 6 and Brian was 16 so there is a gap where Brian went to live with his mother.
Thanks to social media, we grew close as adults. In fact, I grew to enjoy his posts and he would call practically every 2 weeks just to check-in. We would talk about being outsiders because most of our family lived in Clinton Iowa and he was in North Carolina and I was in St. Louis so we usually were on the outside looking in on the silly fights our large family would get into. We would vent the frustration we had with jobs, partners, or life in general.
Brian really changed when he was blessed with his daughter Dani. He lost a bit of a wild streak he had, quit smoking, and thrived at his role of being a father. Little Dani inspired him to go to college and get an education. He spoiled his princess with trips to chuck e cheese and nail salons. There was no doubt how much he loved his daughter. She was his everything!
In June of 2020, he took Dani on a road trip to Clinton to meet his family. I was shocked when he showed up at my door in st. Louis because he made time to come see me as well. I was in the middle of trying to change my bedroom ceiling fan and he did his best to help me because it was very warm in my bedroom. Unfortunately, a screw was stripped so we never completed the task but had fun being in each other's company. He met his nieces and I met mine
He spoiled my daughters with surprises and even got my nonverbal autistic daughter a trolls blanket that as soon as he gave it to her she looked at him and said "I love you" for the first time. Needless to say, he got a big head from it lol
When my family was quarantined due to covid he had groceries delivered to our house and made sure to have snacks my daughters would love because he loved us and wanted to make sure we were taken care of
He even found a baby alive doll, my oldest daughter had broken and was devastated about, on eBay and had it shipped to her.
Personally, I've always had anxiety and don't like to call people because I don't want to bother them, so he would call me every few weeks and if I didn't answer he would keep calling and messaging on FB until I would respond because he didn't want me to hideaway.
Our last conversation was on August 24th. I had started college and it was after my first day of classes. He wanted to know how it went, to tell me how proud he was of me and that he loved me. It was a short 5 min conversation that I will treasure the rest of my life. If I had known it was the last one I would have talked longer but alas we never know when the last time we will talk to a loved one is. I am just glad he left this life knowing that I loved him.
God blessed me with a kind, funny, compassionate, older brother. One who was always there for me if I needed to talk, or if I was struggling. It is so hard to navigate this grief when the person I am grieving is the person I would talk to when something like this happened. I will be strong though because I know that is what he would want. I trust in the Lord and hold on to the fact that one day Brian and I will meet again in Heaven. There are so many pictures I could attach of Brian but I am only going to do a four. My favorite picture of him with our dad before he passed, one of the 5 Jones siblings left to right Daniel, nick, Ashley, Adam, and Brian, one from his surprise stop at my house, and his last FB profile picture of Dani and him.
Brian also had 3 step-siblings not pictured he was raised with who are Brandi, Lance, and Jon.
I am sorry this may or may not help in writing an obit or saying anything in service. In my grief, I find my mind has been bouncing on ideas on what to say