I promised that I was going to go a little lighter tonight. I love looking back through my memories and reminiscing about the different lessons I learned. Tonight I am looking at the lessons I learned by being the youngest of four boys. My brothers would probably state that, as the youngest, I was spoiled. They swear to this day that I got everything that I wanted and they always had to suffer having to struggle and beg for everything. I, on the other hand, would state that I was the punching bag of the family. Well, that is until I finally allowed my fuse to burn. Then everyone booked it as far from me as possible. So anyways, here are a couple of lessons learned.
The first lesson was while attacking a brother always look in the direction of the head. I do not remember what started the argument that erupted into so much more. However, we were attacking my biggest brother – hey, he was the biggest. I do remember at some point, to be a butthead, he took my box of money and would not return it. Now there are two things you never get take from a little kid – money and food.
We chased my brother around the house. (I am now sitting here wondering where my parents where. Funny, I think that every time they left the house something happened.)Anyways, we finally got my brother down on the ground, and we attacked. Of course, being the smallest, the best place for my attack was to jump on his back. It is funny, but little guys know to jump up and down to get the best results. Unfortunately for me, I was not facing the head. I should have been for I could have grabbed his head and smacked him. Instead, I was facing the feet.
I don’t recall exactly how long it took before it happened, but happen it did. I was bouncing on my brother, yelling to give back my box, and …….WHAM! His foot came up as he bent his knee and the heel made contact with my teeth. Out popped a front tooth. The good thing was that the fight ended, and we started plotting the story to keep us all out of trouble.
The next lesson comes from the same brother. I was so young when it happened that I do not remember it. I know the story so well because it has been told at almost every family get together. The first house that I remember living in was in the middle of this project. All together there may have been 29 homes. It was a great place to live because, like so many Facebook posts, the kids came out in the morning and only returned home to eat and use the bathroom (well to eat). Everyone knew everyone. It was the perfect place to live. That is unless your oldest brother had gotten in trouble and decided to run away.
The other nice thing about where we lived was that our Nana lived only 1-1/2 miles away. Never mind that it did involve a very busy road, kids don’t think about that. I am not sure what occurred between my brother and parent(s). All I know is that he decided that he could no longer live there, and he was moving to Nana’s. The cool thing about my brother is that he decided he would not leave a single soldier behind.
My dad worked the midnight shift. My brother decided that the best time to run away was at dawn before he returned home. He packed up belongings and put things in a red wagon. He got all of our bikes out and made sure that everything was good to go. I was on a tricycle. My brother was getting out of dodge with his posse.
From what I understand, we had started to make a break for it when my second oldest brother decided he could not go without his bowling pins. My oldest brother agreed and went back for the pins. Unfortunately, this delay caused us to be in the driveway when my father pulled in from work. Since I was so young, I do not remember if anyone was punished and if so what the punishment would have been. I do know this, if it hadn’t been for bowling pins, we may have been going down the busy road before Dad came home. I have no idea if we would have made the trip in one piece.
The last lesson also comes from the eldest of the family. Wow. He was a pretty good teacher. He was three years ahead of me in school. I cannot remember what grade he was in at the time, but it must have been high school since he was taking a trip to Florida with the band.
Being a procrastinator with his studies, he reached the point of his trip with a book report looming over his head. The report was due upon his return. He was to read The Jungle and write a report on the book. Not wanting to give up time with his friends while in the sunshine state, we made a deal. I would read the book and write the report, but he had to take me to see a movie when I was done. I believe the movie was Star Trek, so that makes it 1979 and I was in 7th or 8th grade. The first part of the lesson was to make sure you bargain well. While a fan of Star Trek, I should have held out for more.
I remember that people were surprised that such a young person was reading that book. It turned out to be and still is my favorite book. I was taken into a world that I would never see or lived, but Upton Sinclair made me understand. I loved the book and had no problem writing the report. When my brother returned, his work was complete. I believe he earned a B on it. What I didn’t know was that my brother shared the report with his friend. His friend received a C. However, I learned that specifics must be placed in each contract as to how your work would be used.
The final lesson I received from that project was to keep a paper trail. As it turned out, when I reached high school, I ended up with the same teacher who gave out the same book. I still had that report. I kept all work just like I keep every e-mail today. I rewrote the paper so that it was now in my current handwriting, and turned in my work. The best part of it was when I informed my brother that I had received an A on the report. I believe that the teacher in questioned retired the next year. I loved having her.
The funny thing is that while I shared a lot of stories with my students, this was not one of them.
So these are just a few stories that my oldest brother taught me. All of my brothers taught me lessons, and I will share them with you at different times. I hope that if nothing else, they brought you a smile.
Thank you for meandering with me tonight.
Bob
I’m one of the kids from the neighborhood. I’m not sure if you remember me but I took care of you all when your father was in the hospital with his heart attack. It was quite the summer. I also went camping with your family. I have a ton of memories from growing up in that neighborhood. Direction were about 29 houses and yes we did spend the morning until evening outside. The creek down the hill was our biggest draw and in the winter it was always ice-skating at the pond I still hear from a number of people that grew up in the neighborhood. I’m enjoying your blog. Your family has a special place in my heart.
Bonnie,
I actually called you out on Facebook when I saw your name pop-up. I remember the name more than the face – hey I was small. All I know is that my parents and brothers always speak your name with a fondness. For some reason, I believe we may have tied you up when you babysat – sorry.
Thank you for the kind words about my blog. May you continue to enjoy.
By the way, the brother in question is the one with his hands around my neck.