Bruce, An Amazing Brother - Part I

I have a little brother that is quite amazing. He has a fresh outlook on life, a great sense of humor, is a wonderful story teller, loves and worships the Lord in his daily life. I admire him in so many ways and look up to him and the way he follows God. He is fun to be around and has a good heart.

Bruce also has had several interesting encounters with bikes and I would like to share them. But before I do, Trey told me I had to make this ‘disclaimer:’ “These stories are based on actual events.” I believe Trey just wants you to believe they are based on true stories and not actual events. You be the judge.

When Bruce got his first bicycle he was quite the Evil Knievel. Instead of applying his breaks he would use the garage door, side or back of the station wagon or tree to come to a complete stop. We counted the dents in the car or garage to keep up with Bruce’s stops. We estimated the depth of each dent to keep record of his speed on impact.

A few weeks after getting his new bike, Bruce trudged into the house with a downcast face and something behind his back. “Momma, I had an accident;” like anyone was surprised. We all stopped what we were doing and gathered around. “Momma, I ran over Melinda’s car.” While making this statement he pulled her antenna out from behind her back. We all stared in disbelief. Considering Bruce’s crashing abilities, this was an amazing feat. We all sat around trying to estimate how he had accomplished this. Had he ramped the car thus ripping off the antenna as he made his exit off the hood? No, after acquiring great speed, while passing the vehicle he hooked his handlebars onto the antenna therefore ripping it off. The radio never sounded the same again.

Bruce and Trey were real ‘daredevils.’ There wasn’t much that they were afraid of. They would get on their bikes and race up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. From time to time they would face off, one on one end of the street, the other on the other end; then the game of ‘Chicken’ would commence. Trey would give the signal and then they were off, racing toward each other gaining great speed. Standing while peddling brought greater results and increased their speed as they raced toward each other with great anticipation. As the sun shone down, the breeze blew in their faces, and adrenaline surged, fear would began to mount as they closed the distance to the crash. Bruce flinched; veered to the right and rode the bike up the tree like a cat. There was a moment in time when the world actually stopped and everything became suspend in air then, Bruce and bike came crashing down. Arms, legs, tires, handlebars seemed to litter the yard. Then Bruce emerged victorious; not from the battle of ‘Chicken’ but from the confrontation of ‘Man, Bike and Tree’ and Man had won; or so it seemed as he limped home for bandages and antiseptic.

II Kings 9:20 The lookout reported, "He has reached them, but he isn't coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi--he drives like a madman."