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sameolme
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"But Mom always catches us." I objected
"That's cause you always get a soaker." Chris shot back.
What Mom always found out was that we had been down to the forbidden brook.
How she found out was my soaked sneakers.
A 'soaker' was almost impossible to avoid. Just one slip off an unstable rock and I'd end up wearing wet evidence
of where we'd been.
The brook was off limits because I was
deemed too small at age 4 to go there,
and my brothers (6 and 7) weren't allowed to leave me behind to go by themselves.
Therefore I was both the cause of us
getting caught and the reason the brook was forbidden to begin with.
In short, I was a problem child.
That's why I objected to us going there that day, not becauce the brook wasn't fun, it was, but going there highlighted the fact that I was a handicap.
But this day proved to be different, for on this day Chris had a stroke of genius.
"If you take off your socks and sneakers, then you won't get them wet."
Now, to most people that may seem like a pretty simple idea, but to me it was
revolutionary. His idea freed me from
my roll as 'the problem'. That my brother, a mere kid himself, could challenge the omniscience of Mom was
extordinary! His idea empowered me to overcome fate!
Casting aside my anxiety along with my sneakers I was free to throw myself into the fun, and inadvertantly into the brook as well. It soon became clear that I needed to shed more than my footwear, and I was quickly dis- encumbered of my pants as well, leaving me with the minimum required modesty of
underwear. That was fine by me, as I was too absorbed in trying to catch a crayfish to worry about fashion.
My unrestrained enthusiasm proved
contagious, and soon all three of us were chasing crayfish in our undies.
For your great idea and the great day it
provoked, I salute you Chris, with dry
sneakers raised high.
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050106
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