To my Brother, Robert (AKA Bob!)

***This is a long one, and I am not done, its for my brother. Its about memories of him and I growing up, if you don't want to read it, I understand***

I don't know what would have come of me,
If I hadn't had a brother,
Some kids go thru life without siblings,
Just a father and a mother.

But you and me were always close,
Even for the short spell we were not,
Memories of childhood years,
Will never be forgot.

First thing moving to Sandy Mush,
It was quiet at night, things creaked.
You told me it was monkeys,
Swinging in the trees.

You and your grapevines,
Swinging way up high,
Dad was scared they would break,
And cut them down...in time.

Mom's dinner specialties,
How could we ever forget?
Halfway thru you'd go to the bathroom,
And at that table, I had to sit.

It never failed, the stuff she'd make,
You hated Mac and Cheese,
And of course, you cant forget the "greenery"
I always hated those Peas!

So off to the bathroom you would go,
To sit it out and wait,
Till she gave in, and let me down,
And dumped both of our plates.

Rides on your dirt bike,
Up and down our road....
Things you did with me on that thing,
To mom and dad was never told!!!

You took dad for a trip one time,
From his chair, he usually didn't budge,
When you two left he was a wee bit tipsy,
When you returned? He was sober as a Judge!

The loop-de-loop around the church,
Where I rode around it by myself,
There you were on the other side,
Running up to help.

Taking me to school in the mornings,
When I could have rode the bus,
Having a little tag along (me),
But you never raised a fuss.

Fighting off Ma maws rooster,
You'd whack it with a stick,
Telling me to RUN FASTER!!!
With each and every lick!

Lightning Bug games in the yard,
No, we didn't try to catch them,
We'd grab our flyswats from the pantry,
Chase them down and splat them!

We had our cats, Bo and Luke,
You know where we got the names,
Dukes of Hazzard was one of our favorites,
Between all the Atari games!

You also taught me how to skate,
To Skate-A-Round we would go,
I followed you around that rink,
Looking like your little shadow.

You helped me practice the Limbo,
And most of the time I'd win,
I would look to you for approval,
And you would give me a grin.

Do you remember Christmas time?
When dad was banging around,
You assured me it was Reindeer on the roof,
Making that horrible sound!

Fruity pebbles for breakfast,
Me with my bowl, and you and your trough,
We'd eat and eat until it was gone,
Nothing but an empty box!

What about the lop-sided tomato "sammich"?
The one you cut out for your self?
When dad came in to make him one,
Boy! Did he raise some H*LL!

Then there was the Fatherly Trip,
He took with us on the bikes,
I laugh so hard thinking of that,
When he crashed, we ran for our lives!!!

And what about the Grocery Store trips?
When the Cecil Syndrome would hit?
Things would jump off the shelves at him,
If he touched it, it turned to Sh*t!

Then came my go cart,
On that you taught me tricks,
How to slide around and spin,
Staying away from the fence sticks.

Dad finally got rid of it,
I did just like you....
I rode it up Worley Cove, out of bounds,
Off to Reba's I flew!!

Mom and dad were so hard on you,
I never knew why,
Were they taking out frustrations?
How I hated hearing you cry.

I never understood what was going on,
That part I guess is better off forgotten.
But every now and then it comes to mind,
And it still makes me feel rotton.

I remember when you had "Hell Buggy",
And on Spivey you went "mudding",
Covered in mud and dirt,
To the door you'd come trudging.

What about your Primer-ed Chevelle?
The one that the radiator went bad?
You'd fill it full of powdered milk,
Back then it was all you had.

You had that Blue Chevy s-10,
Lowered, slammed to the ground.
You'd throw Mr. Kie in the back,
And all day, you'd cart him around.

Then we had two blue Festiva's,
Thru Leicester to dads we raced!
Two little blueberries in the wind....
Neither one, picking up any pace!!!

Our clubhouses in the woods,
A territory all of our own,
Sometimes I wish I could go back,
To our childhood, and roam.

You'd take dad's Chevelle to Marshall,
I'd stay back and answer the phone,
Telling mom and dad you were outside,
So they would think that you were home!

I remember your bikes you raced,
How they called you "Rambo Rider",
Nomatter how high the jumps,
You always seemed to climb higher!

Then the awful race that night,
When that guy kicked you over,
Out of the blue, on his victory lap you came,
Me screaming out, "Thats my Brother!!!"

You brought home a pizza one time,
Strapped to back of your bike,
We eventually found out it had fell off,
When we opened it, and it didn't look quite right.....

You got me hooked on runny eggs,
With toast and a bunch of Jelly.
It was better than dads breakfast,
And it definately filled our bellies!

Poor dad, with his toast and grits,
At first it didn't seem that bad,
Until the worms started moving,
And then we started to gag!

I remember us going to a movie,
Tango and Cash was it,
I remember someone driving by and yelling at me,
And you pitching a fit!

I remember when I Graduated,
You and me met at the school.
I showed you off to all my friends,
They thought you were so cool!

The day I left for Fayetteville,
As I drove down the drive,
You sat up there on the porch watching me,
I felt like I was going to die.

The hardest part was leaving my brother,
The one who had been there thru all my days,
Thru all my trials and journeys,
And my teen age crazy "Haze".

I could go on forever with this,
So many memories from way back,
The things we did when we were young,
Would have made mom and dad have heart attacks!

You were there for me the most,
When mom and daddy split,
I always looked up to you,
And all the things you did.

You made sure I didn't do without,
Because of what they went thru,
Like I said, theres no telling where I'd be,
If it hadn't been for you.

Having a brother filled my life,
With so many joyful things,
I just hope from here on out,
I can eventually repay you, by doing the same.

Up on a pedestal you still sit,
I love you with all my heart,
I hope and pray from here on out,
We never again fall apart.