wanna hear another story about my brother? a happier one?
good.
when we were in high school rob had a paper route. i'm pretty sure he hated it. especially during those rough indiana winters. trudging through six inches of snow before the sun even rises probably wasn't his ideal method of earning a little extra spending money.
but i had a car. i'd only recently gotten my drivers license but mom went ahead and splurged (all of $100, probably) on a baby blue AMC hornet for me. i loved driving that thing. i felt like a big shot. not very many juniors had a car... especially not one with a bench seat.
rob, of course, immediately saw how my car could improve his life on those cold mornings. he asked me once to get up really early (4am, maybe?) and drive him on his paper route. because i loved him so much (and still do) i agreed.
now, really... how many 16 year old sisters would do that for their 14 year old brothers?? not many. and i'll tell you what... it was not a lot of fun, driving him around in that cold, cold car that morning. i tried to not let on how miserable i was, but i'm sure he saw it.
we were probably halfway through his route. it was pitch black outside. after delivering a newspaper he came back to the car... i could see him in the headlights, with snow up to his knees. as he got in he handed me something dark and heavy. he said, "congratulations... you have won the official wrought iron fencepost award." and he smiled this loving little smile that i don't think i'll ever forget.
it was just some piece of crap he picked up in the snow, but it made me laugh and i was glad we were out there in the dark morning together.
Posted by xta at April 20, 2004 02:10 PM | TrackBack