Brothers

Growing up, I lived in the country where it was quiet and peaceful. There weren’t too many kids my age around, so it was up to me and my brother, Matt, to create our own worlds. And create them we did. With acres of beautiful woods, miles of the Chuctanunda Creek (pronounced “crick” for those readers from the midwest), the best sand pile ever (courtesy of the yearly dump truck load of sand from Dad), rope swings, cobbled together bikes, go carts, mini bikes, an amazing swingset, and ramshackle forts … we lived outside. We had islands up and down the crick, went hunting for crayfish, and built hopelessly impossible rafts that never floated. All they did was succeed in falling apart and getting us in trouble. After all, “Mom, we weren’t in the water, we were just trying to not get wet. It wasn’t our fault it fell apart, honest!” Once, Matt even tried to hollow out a canoe out of a log. It really didn’t work at all. We built ramps in the driveway and Matt bravely attempted to jump them. However, he did succeed in getting a bunch of rocks embedded into his forehead. Apparently, my ramp design left much to be desired. We played cops and robbers on bikes, and hide and seek late at night when our friends from church would come and visit. We’d climb trees and Matt was never afraid to climb all the way up – he was seriously a monkey when he got in a tree. We’d play cars and Legos for hours when we were kids… it was great. We didn’t miss much without a TV. Dad would take us with him when he went to Jeff’s (a local salvage yard) and in those days it was ok to just walk around in junk yards. So we would play in the cars and we had our favorites – imagining what it would be like to drive. Some of the cars in there were actually better looking that some of the as we drive, which always made us laugh. We played hard together and worked hard together. We knew how to run a wood splitter and stack a shed and keep the house warm when we were very young. Matt was daring – I would imagine things and he would attempt them. It was great. At night we would talk for hours and hours, often being interrupted by Dad or Mom’s bellowing, “Boys, go to sleep now!” And even later on, when we grew up, I would come home from college in the summer and we would sleep out in the camper because we knew we could talk there and stay up late. My brother was my best friend when I was younger, and even though we are now miles apart and not as close as we once were, we are bound by the experiences that shaped us and bonded us forever together. So tonight I wish my brother Matt a very happy 34th birthday. With a wife, two daughters, a son and a couple dogs, your life is not dull, but I wish you the blessings of joy, of peace and prosperity and may the love of God surround you and your family, and may life always be an adventure!