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My brother John was always a wild little man. When he was just 5 years old,
he was prone to jumping on a lot of things. I remember one day in particular, in
the middle of winter, it was very cold outside. We had set up an old mattress
near the wall, close to a radiator where it was warm. We were all bouncing on
it, but this wasn’t exciting enough for Brother John. So, he had taken to
running across the room, flying on the mattress and zooming on it.
At one point, he zoomed so far across the mattress that it bounced off the
radiator, with him on it, and his head cracking across the radiator. He pass out
for just a minute, and when he came to we realized that blood was pouring out
from his head in buckets. We called out for mom, who was screaming to get the
smelling salts to keep her from passing out.
Not one to want to go to the hospital, mom had a handy little fix it kit that
involved some special products that included butterfly bandages that fixed
brother right up. That day brother learned the head is hard, and bleeds a lot.
Once you get through all of the blood, a butterfly bandage is really good at
fixing just about anything, as is a very stern lecture from mother, who made
sure that brother sat on the couch the rest of the day, and into the next.
Another time, I remember brother was hurling himself off of the couch,
pretending that he was a space man or something. I was supposed to be
babysitting, and thought I was doing a pretty good job, until John asked me what
it meant when the entire world was going around and around, and things seemed a
bit upside down. Once again, I lectured brother and commandeered him to the
couch for the rest of the day.
Brother was known for his crazy antics. Even as an adult he was somewhat of
an evil Knievel at best. However, his penchant for never hesitating to take a
risk or be in a certain place at a certain time came in handy. One day we were
at the mall a few years back, and a sudden noise caught his attention. There was
an escalator about 30 stories in the air, and we heard a very loud scream,
sounding very much like the one of mother when John used to get in trouble as a
child. Almost as if on instinct, brother John put his arms out taught, and a
child fell into his arms and taught against his chest. As it turns out, a child
had been playing up on the escalator way up high, and fell off. If John hadn’t
put his arms out, the child may have fallen to the floor, and according to
rescue workers, possibly broken her neck or back.
That’s John for you. I guess all of those corny games as a child taught him a
thing or two about the nature of children. John has his own three beautiful
children now that have grown into lovely young adults. I am confident they have
given my brother a run for his money, and paid John back for some of the fright
he offered us all as children.
John’s exuberance, though trying at times, was always something that kept
everyone on their toes. It left us with plenty of wonderful and fun stories to
share around the family. John, I certainly will miss you at family gatherings,
but am grateful you are at peace! May you have fun with the angels in heaven.
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