Happy birthday, little brother

My little brother, David, has a birthday coming up. He is the youngest and the most sane of the three of us. I can always count on him to put things into perspective and make me laugh.

He has worked at the same place forever. They have tried to promote him several times and David keeps turning them down. He is perfectly satisfied with his job.

In addition to providing a paycheck, the job gives him lots of material for the stories he tells. The original company has changed hands a couple of times but they still keep the same personnel. From what I can tell, the only thing that changes is that all the trucks and trailers have to have the company’s new logos applied.

When he was little, he was a follower. Anywhere his older brother, Michael, was, David wasn’t far behind. We didn’t have to ask who thought it was wise to erect a “fort” in the backyard. The culprit was always Michael. David provided the manpower. The “fort” was a very unstable construction that looked like a platform on stilts. Thankfully it fell down before anyone got hurt.

These days David is still a follower only now it is his wife, Apryl, who is the leader. She is currently training for a breast cancer walk in late summer. They have found a trail they like. If I remember right, they stash their bicycles at a given point on the trail then park the car a set distance away. They then walk to their bikes and pedal back to the car.

Today I learned that the GPS in their car has a sense of humor. David didn’t want to walk with Apryl so he dropped her off. When he went to pick her up afterwards he followed the GPS instructions. The problem was that he missed a turn and ended up at some sort of military facility. His GPS told him to travel a half mile inside the place before exiting.

The armed guy at the gate disagreed and told him to follow a lady who was also armed. They said a lot of GPS systems directed people to tour the place. David was glad they didn’t shoot him.

The two of them are very active and have a few close friends along with friends from childhood. They like attending Renaissance Fairs in costume. They frequent antique shops. They have several places they like to camp. Apryl’s mom lives close by and they have commandeered a portion of the little creek that is on her property and set it up as a restful place to spend a day or a weekend.

David is also an inventor. If he sees something online, our mother’s voice says, “You can make that.” Never one to ignore a voice from the grave, he tries to follow the directions. The problem is that he doesn’t always finish his creations.

He once made a hoverboard and had his wife try it out. The steering mechanism wasn’t quite as functional as she preferred and the brakes were nonexistent. She barely missed crashing into the neighbor’s house.

He made a recumbent bicycle that was half done. He tied a rope to both his bicycle and the recumbent one and convinced me to ride on the invention as he pulled it down the street. As usual, steering was creative at best and the brakes hadn’t been installed yet. At the end of the street he swung the rope around and his son cried, “Whoa! I want to do that,” as I slid around in a circle.

None of the three of us siblings care for sports. We do watch television, but would rather be outside messing around. David is the youngest, the healthiest, and most active of us three.

I wish him a happy birthday even if he does tell people that his sister is a communist. I tell him the word is columnist but he insists that communist is funnier.

Since Mom died we no longer get together for birthdays. I no longer bake a cake or cookies to honor the birthday boy. I miss that.

Things change. At least I can hear more stories just by picking up the phone. Happy birthday little brother.