Today's hero is my brother Bob - Robert Maynard Brugger. When my parents announced that Mom was pregnant, I said I was going to pray for a brother. I was very specific. Every night I prayed for a brother with blonde hair and blue eyes (I was 4). Well, I got him. Bob was born about 2 weeks after my 5th birthday but somehow he has always been in the back of my mind my 5th birthday present and the best present ever! We have pretty much always been best friends. There have been times when he has been the pesky brother and couple of times when I wondered why I ever asked for him - but for the most part, I am and always have been thrilled he is my brother.
We have had the kind of relationship where we basically pick up where we left off. Most people say that with friends but whether it was yesterday or last year when I really had a long conversation with my brother - it just starts where we left off. When Bob was really little, he and I would play a really stupid game (but really fun for us) where we chased each other in my blue coat and yelled 'piggy wade'. He started doing that when he was 3 and need a diversion in the attic apartment in Germany- so I crawled around on the floor and squealed and chased him and made him laugh. Marianne tried to play it with us once but she found the game totally pointless and would never play it with us again. Besides - it was really best when played with 2 people.
From an early age, playing chess, checkers or Bob's favorite game, Stratego - were not fun because he alway won! In fact Bob could calculate things and win most games of strategy, so I became really good at the games of trivia so I could beat him at something. We both loved playing games and spent hours playing games and then I grew up and got too old for my baby brother for a while. Fortunately I got married and my sweet husband and my brother cared about each other too, so Bob would come and stay at our house for a couple of weeks here and there. That was always fun - whether it was for a couple of weeks or a month, we still had a good time together.
Another one of my favorite memories is after I had our oldest two daughters. I don't know if Bob wanted to go the Disney movies and didn't think a 'date' would go with him, so he would come and get Carianne or Heather and take them. Knowing Bob, he just liked taking our daughter's to the movie. They sure loved going with him. They felt so grown up and loved how he held the seat down with his knee for them. All of our daughters' have a special fondness for their 'Uncle Bob' and we all love him dearly.
My brother has an uncanny way of making lemonade out of the lemons of misfortune. Unfortunately in Bob's life he has not been handed just a few cups of lemonade to make but several 'vats' of lemonade. He would be the first to admit some he brought on himself but I am here to tell you - very little of it. He is an amazing brother, father, husband and son. I admire his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter what, he knows the Gospel is true and that he is a son of God. He is my hero, one of my closest friends and I am so glad he is my brother!
No comments:
Post a Comment