There are so many memories that I could share with the trials and tribulations with Doug and I. From recreational basketball at the Benson Community Center to all the back yard pick up games with the brothers while mom was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Or how proud I was of Doug during his sophomore year at the Nebraska swimming and diving meet, he did so well. Not the memory I would like to share.
When Doug graduated from Coast Guard Basic Training I was graduating from Marine Corps Recruiting School. He made the suggestion to fly to San Diego and we could drive back to Nebraska together, brother bonding trip. It was a great idea as far as I was concerned and we set the plan in motion.
I picked him up at the San Diego airport mid evening on friday and we set out on our journey. Granted we both were on leave and did not have a lot of wiggle room. Trip started out smoothly as we headed east towards Nebraska and were heading through the desert to Phoenix, AZ. It was one or two o'clock in the morning just outside of Phoenix when my truck decided it was tired and wanted to stop. Mind you this was in a time of NO CELL phones or any such devices. We sat on the side of the road until a state trooper finally stopped and asked if we needed help, well yeah, duh. He got us a tow truck and we were towed to a shop in town.
My truck at the time had a camper on the back so we were able to bed down until the shop opened in the morning and we could figure out what was wrong. Shop opened and they looked at the truck and told me the motor was blown. Poor Doug could only think of why did I do this, I am missing time with Tom and his buddies before going off to "A" school. Spent saturday night in a hotel and on sunday decided it was time for both of us to get home so got airline tickets back home and completed our journey.
Doug never get upset, didn't moan or whine we just took our time together and enjoyed what we had. Probably not the greatest of stories but it is one memory that will be with me forever.
Love you little brother.
