With all the hype surrounding the royal birth of the as yet
unnamed baby prince, I wish Prince William and Duchess Kate all the happiness
in the world. But my thoughts this week
are on another little baby boy, born on July 16th.
While the new baby prince will be, well, treated like a
prince, baby Isaac will never know his father, because his father died of brain
cancer a few months ago.
Brandon, Isaac’s daddy, was loved by many. Our daughter knew him in high school, and our
son-in-law knew him at college, so they had a lot of the same friends.
Last year, Son-in-law and Brandon ran in a good-time race
they have every year up here in the Northwest called the Warrior Dash. Participants run three miles, then go over
and under cargo nets, huge walls, fire, and mud.
Before the race
This year, a crowd of friends gathered to honor Brandon at the
Warrior Dash. Our matching tee-shirts
had Brandon’s picture from last year’s race on it, with “Team B” under it. Team B for Brandon, but also because none of
the runners considered themselves potential winners.
After the mud
After the slog through the mud and the resulting cheers,
glasses of celebratory offerings were raised and we toasted Brandon. Then we zoomed off to a backyard picnic at
the home of some of the participants’ parents.
Sitting in the backyard, it was fun to scan down the 40 foot
table at the horde of friends, laughing over the funny hats with horns that
were issued at the race. Children ran
around picking raspberries, blueberries, shooting each other with squirt guns,
swinging in swings suspended from grandpa’s apple trees, and stuffing
themselves with hot dogs. Grandparents
clustered together and chatted, and young parents guffawed together and swung
their children onto their shoulders.
So this is the society that baby Isaac will grow up in. He WILL know his father, for so many loved
him, and continue to do so. Isaac will
be swung up on the shoulders of “daddies”, he will swing among the trees with
his “sisters and brothers” and be admonished to wash his hands by his “grandparents”. In the backyards of many families, there will
never be any of a daddy’s qualities missing, for they will be offered in
abundance by friends who hold the princely treasures of a father’s love in
their hearts, ready to offer up and pour out on this little boy as he grows up.
Team B? Yes, B for Brandon, but I don't feel his friends are a second class team. They are top-notch. Winners.
Full of life and love and the gifts of friendship. Royality.
There used to be a men’s chorus back in the 60’s led by a
smiling, goatee-ed man named Mitch Miller.
We baby boomers loved to “sing along with Mitch” and the chorus. A bouncing ball hit the words scrolling along
the bottom of the TV screen, and families crooned in their living rooms in
front of the black and white TV’s. Ask
any boomer if they remember this, and the answer will invariably be yes. Not only that, they will probably burst into
one of their favorite songs.
Here’s one of mine, and it makes me think of the good times
and trials that surround any friendship.
I offer it up to Brandon:
Oh we ain’t got a
barrel of money
Maybe we’re ragged and
funny,
But we’re travelin’
along,
Singin’ a song,
Side by side.
Through all kinds of
weather,
What if the sky should
fall?
Just as long as we’re
together,
It doesn’t matter at
all.
Oh we ain’t got a
barrel of money
Maybe we’re ragged and
funny,
But we’re travelin’
along,
Singin’ a song,
Side by side.
Brandon on right
:'( Make me cry! In a good way, I think.
ReplyDeleteActually me too as I was writing it. I'm so glad we had some happy days water skiing with Brandon and Ally.
ReplyDeleteTears here, too. Such great words!
ReplyDeleteThank you. You guys are such supportive friends. B is no doubt smiling.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story. I hope those friends remain a huge part of Isaac's life, that way he will always feel that he knew his dad.
ReplyDelete