A day to talk about brother Ronald

Day 180, "Every picture has a story"

This is Ronald.  I know I have written about him in the past but will do so again today.  In my mind he was the man that pretty much most, if not all men want to be.  He was smart, he was energetic, he was full of fun, full of ideas, a great big brother and more I am sure.  As was the case for Janet, his life was way way too short but in the time he was here he lived life to the fullest.  Some of the things I remember are:

• In 1957 or so I gave him my $10 and he bought a baseball glove for me.  I did that because I knew I would not get into town.  I still have the glove.
• My 22 rifle, Ronald gave that to me.  He customize it just for me by cutting the barrel shorter and the stock shorter.
• He come home from college in maybe 1958 or so with a TV in the front seat.  It was our first TV.  He climbed up on the roof and put an antenna on the stand that was still there after our wind charger blew down.  We then had a snowy but GREAT TV!
• I remember one time he came home from college and it was a Saturday.  Of course Saturday night was "bath night".  When I came into the room where the tub was there were some little toy cars there for me.  I asked him to shut the door when he left.  He turned and with a smile he asked me why!
• Rabbit hunting, pheasant hunting was fun with Ronald.
• We went to some of his Legion baseball games in Lidgerwood in the summer.  I still have a baseball that he fouled off and it went way back of the stands.  I hunted and hunted until I found it.
• We went to Lidgerwood for his senior play.  It was a play about a trial.  Ronald was one of the lawyers.  In the end the audience voted for who won the case.  Ronald, the lawyer, won.  Mom and Dad were so proud.  
• He had a boat and it was behind his and John's that I learned to water ski.
• I remember going to his room in Kulm HS during Christmas vacation.  I was so looking forward to playing basketball in Kulm my senior year as I was a starter then BUT Ronald died in the fall.
• I remember him telling about his classroom. I thought to myself how could he stand up in front of a classroom and teach/talk for 40 minutes.  I was in awe.
• I remember the year we dragged out deer for a LONG time in the badlands of ND and then the next year Ronald had made a carrier out of bike parts and we just loaded the deer onto that and it was a breeze.  I thought he was REALLY smart!

The list could go on and on as Ronald was such an important part of my life.  As a big brother he was the BEST.  As I mature into old age now I sometimes sit back and wonder "what if".  If it is possible to miss someone more now than when they were with us 54 years ago, that would be me.

The "good players" had a round robin today and I guess there are people out of town for the summer so I was invited to play!  We played for 45 minutes and then changed partners and played another 45 minutes.  I won both my sets with scores of 6-3 and 6-4.  I, as least, held my own all morning.  

Of course my FP is long gone but it is not forgotten.