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Louis joined the Marine Corps out of high school at the peak of their parents’ falling out. When he returned to rejoin the family in Jackson, Mississippi, the divorce process had already begun. It would leave their mother in the difficult situation of figuring out how to provide for her five children. Louis, who was 10 years older than an adolescent Tom, became the de facto father figure to his brother.
“He took me under his wing, and we bonded while working through my family’s turmoil,” said Tom. “He became more of a mentor to me.”
When Louis moved to Atlanta to pursue a position with the Atlanta Police Department, he wanted to stay in touch his little brother.
“We had similar taste in music, so we used to spend time listening to vinyl or tapes together when we still lived together. It just clicked and made sense to send a tape to him, especially since we didn’t have CDs yet,” said Louis.
Shortly after Louis joined the Atlanta Police Department, Tom received a package containing the first cassette tape labeled with the name of the fake radio program his brother had created for him called “Bad Moon.”
Decades later, the brothers continue this tradition. Tom’s tape
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FALL 2021 | OCONEE THE MAGAZINE | PAGE 31
