Beach Brother

2006 Travel and Transitions travel story contest participant

While on vacation in the summer of 1990, I was staying with my brother in California. He has been a paraplegic for the past seven years, due to a horrible accident he had at work.

Let me take you back to and earlier experience we shared in our youth. Bud and I were at the beach.(our favorite stomping grounds!) I had taken a raft and went out to ride the waves. I was a fair swimmer - but, Bud was the "fish" of the two of us. I got caught out in what is known as "rip tides". I yelled to my brother to get me help. Without a second thought, Bud was in the water and reached me within minutes. The next thing I knew, my baby brother grabbed hold of my raft with one hand and, stroke by stroke, he swam until he had brought me safely to the shore. I'm 37 years old and though I was a mere 17  ( Bud was 15 ) I've never forgotten the "Hero" Bud was for me that day.

Twenty years had passed and our lives had taken different directions. We didn't get to see each other much, as I had moved to Missouri. Throughout my life, whenever I needed Bud, he was always there for me.

Bud and I went back to our old "stomping grounds' this summer. The difference in time was that Bud now sat in a wheel chair by the parking lot, looking to the shore, with a wistful, far-away look in his eyes. As I watched my brother who was watching everyone else go into the water that he so dearly loved, my heart just ached for him. Suddenly, I had an epiphany! I grabbed the handles of his wheelchair and said " Come on Bud, we're taking a tour down memory lane." I raced down the boardwalk of the pier, pushing Bud until we got within forty feet of the water. When I stopped, he looked up at me as if to ask "what's going on?" Where I was standing, the wall of the pier was slightly more than waist high to Bud. I told him to stand and take hold of the wall. " We're going swimming!" I somehow managed to get Bud over that wall and down into the sandy beach. I went back over to the wall and got the wheel chair, taking it to the edge of the water. When I returned to where Bud was sitting in the sand, I sat down beside him  and challenged him to race me to the water. Scoot by scoot, Bud, lifting each leg with his hands, once again we ran into the water. For the first time in years, Bud went swimming in the ocean! My heart was filled with such joy as we played at the waters' edge as the waves rolled towards us and enveloped us in our memories of times past.

That moment in time was monumental for both of us. Not only did I help Bud to learn that he is only as limited as his imagination, I learned something too! Getting back over that wall took a lot more effort! My "baby" brother was a big man, tipping the scales at 300 lbs and then some! Fortunately for both of us, there was a group of teenagers playing beach volleyball nearby.  They had witnessed our venture and, subsequent dilemma! They all rushed over to where we were, shouting "right on brother. Grab the gusto!" .As I was pondering how I was going to manage getting Bud and his chair back onto the pier, the group of teenagers surrounded Bud and lifted him up as though in tribute to his accomplishment cheering him on as they got him over the wall and back into his wheel chair. That was the turning point for Bud in his personal quest to overcome his challenge.

I thanked the teenagers for their assistance, not knowing if they really understood how much they had truly done for Bud. Bud and I stayed on the pier a few moments longer looking towards the waters' edge, sharing a renewed sense of adventure. As we started back down the pier going towards the car, I looked up and saw a man coming towards us. He too, was in a wheel chair. But, he was steering his wheel chair by using his nose to push a button to activate its' motor. I turned to Bud and said "See Bud, there's many people who meet their challenge victoriously!"

At the airport, before boarding the plane which would transport me once again, far away from my beloved family, I stopped into a shop to purchase a magazine to read on the plane. As I was standing in line waiting to check out, I was looking at the souvenir key rings when I spotted one I just had to have. It said "When life deals you a lemon, Make Lemonade".

After returning to work, whenever anyone asked me what I did on vacation, I simply said "I made Lemonade!".

I celebrated my fifty-third birthday yesterday. Bud passed away four years ago. As I sat in my swing sipping lemonade, I imagine I had that same wistful, far-away look in my eyes as I sat staring at the creek which runs through my backyard.