Closets (and Parking Spaces) Are Never Big Enough

Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s about creating yourself. So live the life you imagined.

My brother is nearly three years older than me.  Growing up he was quite a rebel and I was quiet and obedient.  One time when we were just young boys, my mother bought us shoes "for school".  We hated the shoes and had wanted sneakers instead like all the other kids.  To add insult to injury, she would make us where rubbers over the shoes to protect them when it rained.  We would have to walk back and forth to school, which was just under a mile from home, wearing them.  The shoes were bad enough but there was no way that my brother was going to show up at school wearing rubbers.  At the top of the street, on the way to and from school, we would pass by a house with a large oak tree in the back yard.  My brother spied a large hollow at its base where it met the ground. Squirrels would hide acorns in it and such.  It wasn't long before my brother quickly figured out that we could hide the rubbers inside the tree and get them on the way home.  Before too long, he had somehow managed to acquire sneakers (don't ask me how - I don't know) and would keep them in the tree as well.  We would do this with anything we didn't want to wear to school and that which we preferred.

Later, when my brother was ready for his first car, my mother picked It out for him.  It was a plain, boring looking sedan that one of her friends happened to be selling at the time.  My brother loathed it.  After driving it for a very short time, he arranged for one of his friends to take the car and "park" it in the nearby river.   He then reported it stolen, collected the insurance settlement money and bought a Jeep that he wanted.  It's funny that after all these years, these are the things that I remember.  I guess there's a solution to every problem.  You just have to look hard and long enough through the eyes of your heart's desire.  We also learned at an early age that closets (and parking spaces) are never big enough ...

Author's Note

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” - Thoreau

Reviews

[Kelly Scheppers]

My mom never laid down the law like so many of my friends mom's did. I had the neighborhood mom, the PTA mom that made all our friends feel at home. While I was reading this, I was imagining the complex look on the squirrels faces, trying to figure out what those rubber things were that you and your brother stashed inside the tree. Lol, poor things. Was your mom ever let in on what the two of you actually did? Of course, you were wise to wait it out after a couple of years...say, when you hit thirty? Lol, pretty cool, Pete!

[Pete]

Lol! you are spot on - after a few years my brother told her and everyone had a good laugh. being the obedient one, i still feel guilty and bad about it to this day. those poor squirrels, not to mention the owner's of the tree looking out their window and seeing us. thanks so much Kelly ... :)

[barleygirl]

This is a precious story, well-told. It kept my attention drilled to it, even tho a thousand other thoughts were stimulated in my mind as I read. I have found in life that some people accept limitations at face value (like me) & other people are always looking for a work-around. After living in a cage, my pet bunnies will not leave the cage even if I forgot & left the door open. I feel these are the ones who follow the rules. I love how your story drives this point home with the innocent observation of your younger self, rather than having any axe to grind about those who ignore the rules & grab from life what they want! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

thank you for the astute observations. it is interesting how each of us is unique and how some of us comply and/or can be "trained" and others not. i guess that's what makes life interesting - would be boring if we were all the same and nothing out of the ordinary ever happened. what we reminisce about ... :)

[Samuel Dickens]

This is quite an entertaining story. There was nearly three years between my younger brother and me, too. All fairly innocent up to the part about ditching a car in a river.

[Pete]

Lol. thank you Samuel. even Al Capone started out small and worked his up, huh? ... :)