Mom,
I know
this is a little late but this is your Mother’s day present. I’ll call this my “I Remember” letter. It does have a string attached. I would like you to write me a “I Remember”
letter in return.
I remember when I was 4 or 5 Dad
grounded me for a week to the house. I
was to stay inside for a whole week “no playing outside”. After the second or third day you told me I
could go out and play while Dad was gone to work as long as we didn’t
tell. At the time I thought you were
rewarding me for being such a GOOD boy the days I had stayed in, but now looking back I think
you probably just needed a break from my punishment.
I remember when we were bringing
the pony up from the pasture. He didn’t
want to leave his girlfriend Taffy our other horse. So Dad had to lead him,
with me riding on his back to the house.
When we got to the house with the hay field between us and the pasture
where we kept the horses, dad gave me the reigns and the pony took off, returning
to his friend. I’ve never gone so
fast. He was running so fast when I
opened my mouth to yell nothing came out because of all the air rushing
in. My heart was leaping out of my
chest. I was scared for my life and thought it was surly my time to die. I was trying not to tinkle in my pants, all in
a panic holding on for dear life. In a
desperate attempt to save my life I looked to my parents for help. There was my Mom jumping up and down like a
cheerleader yelling and clapping your hands, “Yaa hoo! Ride ‘em cowboy…Yeah” and Dad was yelling, “Drop
and roll! Drop and roll!”
I remember the time we went to
Malad looking for shoes. I had just
realized what girls were and there was one hum dinger of a cutie running the
till in the store. While you were busy
looking at shoes I was strutting my stuff by the men’s brief’s section. Now she was quite a bit older than me but I
didn’t back down. I was laying it on (as
best as a fourteen boy can). I was just
about ready to give her the look!...when you stood up with a pair of black
converse sneakers and said, “Brent I found some CHEEP ones.” I tried to look around as if to see who that
strange woman might be talking to. But
alas, I was the only one there. What was
to be the start of something beautiful between her and me was now just a
sneaker sale.
I remember when Bryan was chasing
me through the house with a hobby knife.
Somewhere in the chase the protective cover fell off. When I stopped
suddenly Bryan ran into me and stabbed me in the back. YES you just read that
right my brother stabbed me. Once again the veil went thin or at least I
thought it should have by the look on Bryan’s face. He ran and got you. After
you had assessed the situation you determined that it might need stitches but
that we were not going to tell the doctor (or anyone for that matter)
that your sons had stabbed one another. After all, what would people think? So
all the way into town we were lectured on why it was important to keep this
just between us. You dropped us off at the library while you went to the drug
store to get some butterfly bandages. We left the library and started to walk
over to the drug store when the first person we saw from across the road and a
block down the street, shouted, “Hey, Bryan, I heard you stabbed your brother.”
I remember at our wrestling matches
how loudly you would cheer for us when we more on top of our opponent. I could
hear your voice above everyone cheering me on, “Get him! Get him, Brent!” and
when they were getting the better of me it was, “Don’t you hurt my boy!”
I remember the time you rolled the
car on the way to one of my free style wrestling matches. We were rushing down
the hill by Bloxham’s farm. The road was slushy with snow and ice. The car lost
control going down the hill at the curve we slid sideways hit the snow bank and
rolled over and over into the snow. I
grabbed hold firmly planted in my seat and terror shot through me followed by
great joy and happiness, for in the vanity mirror on my visor I saw my two
younger sisters Jolene and Denise and my younger brother, Darrin being tossed
around like rag dolls in a big dryer. Now I am thankful no one was hurt to bad,
but I’m most thankful for the look on their faces as the car rolled over and
over. To an older brother that loved to torment his younger siblings, that was
truly a beautiful sight. J
I remember when I wrecked your
car. I was out on a date and had chosen
to take the scenic way home through the canyon where you could stop and enjoy the
stars. When we were leaving, it had
started to snow quite heavily and the roads were slick. I remember turning the wheel but the car went
straight…right off a cliff. This was the
first time in my 17 years that I thought I was going to die. (Now for me to say
that means something kuz I had been in numberless life threatening situations
before) The car came to a
rest upside down in a creek about 30 ft. down.
The girl I was with had a broken nose, puncture wounds in her leg, and
was scraped up pretty badly. I had a
broken collar bone and was already blushing from the guff I would have to take
Monday at school for taking my girl up the canyon. We walked out two miles to a house in the
storm with no coats. When I called you
the phones weren’t working very well and I couldn’t hear you. So I just told you that I had wrecked the car
and to meet me at the emergency room.
I’m not sure how you got into town because that car was our main
transportation and the storm was getting worse.
I remember pulling into the hospital parking lot. There you were standing under the light at
the emergency entrance, arms folded, tapping your toes with a grim look on your
face. I knew I was in bad trouble. I got out of the car and headed toward
you…maybe limping a little more than I had to.
The grim look melted away into a loving concern. I learned two very important things that
night: 1. Your Love for me was unconditional and 2. Never take your date up a snow packed winding
canyon road if you don’t have to…No, but really, number 2. The importance of
Prayer!
I remember you always slipping me a
buck or two my last year of school whether I was rich that day or poor. i knew you didn't have any extra money. I asked you once why you did that when you
knew I had enough of my own. You said,
“This time in your life will probably be the most remembered. I just want to
help”. That one or two dollars may have
only seemed to have bought cinnamon rolls and a pop at Flags West truck stop
but in my heart there is a debt of gratitude that I can never repay. THANKS!!!
P.S. I also remember on our farm, plucking
chickens, gathering eggs, our big garden, selling corn from our field, riding my bike everywhere, Jolene hanging from the roof gutter, scraping pigs, milking cows, taking the big German shepherd dog to
the pound, breaking Shetland ponies, you as my cub scouts leader, building
the addition to the house and dad throwing the hammer to you and you closing
your eyes and catching it on your head, moving to Idaho, snakes, snow drifts, clinkers, the Honda 70, running us all over like a taxi, crying
at the end of “Old Yeller” and “Where the Red Fern Grows”. Endless hugs, kisses on scrapes and bruises,
moving sprinkler pipes, more crying over books & movies, you taking over
when dad was gone on T.D.Y. your help with my boys at there births, endless
little league, piano lessons, signing lessons, sports, taking me back when I was
like5 years old to return a stolen gun and making me talk to the manager and apologize,
staying up late to hear about my dates or other activities, horse drawn sleigh
rides at Christmas to go caroling, Burned offerings and wonderful feasts for dinner, and me burning
our haystacks and out buildings down.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY-MAY 1994
