Jim’s Rant For The Day. Our Cold Bedroom.

My seventy-two year old brother, two years older than me, was buried this week. I already miss him.

John was always most handsome and took great pride in his appearance. In High School he wore starched shirts to school, which he ironed himself so they would be perfect. On more than one occasion he would rip off a shirt if it was wrinkled while dressing, wad it up, throw it to the floor and get a fresh one. I’ve always wished I could take him out, get him drunk and have a tattoo put on him with a wrinkle in it. It would kill him!

We were raised in a wooden house built around 1886 which had only one bathroom. We shared a small bedroom that held only a bunk bed and a desk, leaving just 10 square feet of isle space. John always reminded the family that our room was the only one with a rusty window screen because our seven sisters never let us in the bathroom.

The house was heated by individual gas heaters in all of the rooms but ours. My Father would turn them off at night and back on in the mornings. My sisters would dress huddled around theirs but again our room was too small for a heater. Now before I proceed I had better advise you that some of my siblings could possibly say that as a child I might have been difficult to live with.

One day when we were in High School we were dressing on a bitterly cold morning. John was complaining and said he wished somebody would do something about the cold. He then raised his arm to put on a Tee Shirt. I grabbed a can of Right Guard spray deodorant along with a cigarette lighter and torched the hair under his arm. Next I was on my back on the floor with him on top of me slapping my face with both hands. I was laughing so hard that I couldn’t defend myself. A few moments later he turned from anger to laughter and got off me. I guess he figured out that I was just trying to help the boy as by now he was really warmed up.

That was our last scrap. Since then we were best friends and never uttered a cross word between us. I guess we (I) grew up. If you get to heaven look him up. He will be the only one wearing a starched long sleeved shirt with gold cuff links.