Happy Birthday Ken

Today is my brother's birthday.  I always felt that Ken was my best friend when we were growing up.  I guess we fought some when we were little.  I just don't remember it.  It seems like we were always doing things together.  I was younger but he still let me tag along.  I remember him teaching me how to climb the willow tree in the back yard.  How to get out of the willow tree by swinging on the branches.  Grab hold of those long tentacles and swing down and out over the ditch into the field.  I remember climbing high into the tree and then being too scared to climb back down.  Who rescued me?  Ken.  We did so many things together.  Swimming in the pond or the canal.  Sailing homemade boats down the ditch.  Cooking scorpion soup.  (We didn't eat the soup just cooked it.)  Catching frogs and eating frog legs.  (Yes we really ate frog legs.  Tasted like chicken.  I don't think I could stand eating them now.)  Setting in the trees and counting the cars as they passed by on the highway.  I bet there were 5 to 10 cars every hour.  Now there are that many in a minute.  Running down our lane to catch the bus in the morning.  I would stand watch at the window.  When I saw the bus go up the highway we knew we had about 10 minutes to get to the bus stop. We usually waited until we saw the bus coming back down the highway before we ran out the door.  Taking picnic lunches to the little hill out back of Mom and Dad's place.  There were neat boulders we could set on to eat our lunch.  Riding the calves in the corral.  (Only when dad was not around.  He didn't like us riding the new calves.  Surprise!)  Oh there was the time we dropped the 2 X 4 on Reed's head.  Then we ran like crazy.  He never got mad at us.  I wonder now if it knocked him out and he never knew what hit him.  I have never asked.  We were lucky it didn't kill him.  Reed had nine lives though.  Reed had a gun blow up on him and Ken used first aid skills he had learned in scouts to patch him up until the ambulance arrived.  He probably saved Reed's life.

Now our children are mostly grown.  We have wonderful grandchildren that we can enjoy spoiling.  We are still best friends.  I love you Ken.  Thanks for being my brother!

Happy Birthday!