Goofy Little Geek

My brother was nine years younger than me. You would think that as a consequence of the age difference, we wouldn't have identified with one another all that well. I suppose that was true for a few years. He was, however, a very interesting person and his sense of humor was extraordinarily well-developed for his age.

Some of the funniest things I've ever seen were the art projects he would bring home from kindergarten and first grade. Granted, the art was not all that spectacular, even by kindergarten standards, but the titles...Oh, the titles. Standouts included "Smashed Fly on a Screen Door" and "The Argyle Bear Sat Down in the Water" (complete with cartoon dialogue bubble coming from the bear's mouth reading "Ahhhhh") - obviously dictated to the teacher and written in her handwriting. I'd give anything to know what was going through her mind while she wrote those things.

Up until he was 12 years old or so, he was very small. My parents took him to the doctor for growth evaluations. The doctors took measurements and x-rays and came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong. They estimated that eventually he would grow to be about 5'8". As it would happen, their estimate was a tad off.

He was only 9 years old when I left for college. At the time, he was still a quiet, skinny little geek kid with unruly blonde hair and a very strange sense of humor. Circumstances being what they were, I really didn't see that much of him for the next few years. I went to school, getting married when he was a shade less than 14 years old.

That year, he grew. He grew a lot - roughly 6 inches...in a year. It was awkward and painful for him. Growing that much that fast has a lot of consequences, and those who've experienced them know that growing pains are a very real phenomenon. Up until that point, he had been a good runner. In middle school track, he was always one of the top distance runners. After the growth, it was very painful for him to run at all. I went to one of his cross country races when he was a freshman in high school. He finished second to last. Afterward, he said that his only goal was to "stay ahead of the fat kid."

Later in the next year, my wife and I moved to southeastern Colorado - nearly 10 hours away. The 10 hour distance from our families was good for us in many ways, but the town itself was not particularly exciting. It was a good place to get a start on a career, but after a couple of years we decided that we needed to get back closer to home. We moved back to Casper, Wyoming in 1998. This would be one of the best decisions we ever made.

During the time we were gone, my brother continued to grow. He stood about 6'4" when we moved back to Casper. At the time, he was a junior in high school. Athletically, he had started to feel a bit more comfortable in his new frame. He had continued to run track and cross country even though he struggled. He was determined to get back into the swing of things.

Because we were closer, we were able to attend quite a few of his races. I ran track and cross country while I was in school, and it was pleasant to be back in that environment. By the time my brother was a senior, he had regained his form as a runner. He did relatively well in cross country. That track season, it became evident that his strong race was the mile. As the season progressed, he got faster and faster. By the conference meet, he had a shot at setting the school record. As luck would have it, competition was especially tough in the mile that year. He ended up running a 4:27.59 in the 1600 meters, enough for third place in the state, and enough for a school record that still stands seven years later.

As he approached adulthood, he and I had a lot more in common. We both obsessed over music, often trading tapes, discs and files back and forth. When he went off to college, he came to our house occasionally on weekends to goof around, shoot pool, and trade music.

He was also obsessive about schoolwork. He carried a 4.0 GPA through high school. During his college time, things remained about the same. He chose to major in civil engineering and did very well at it. He also competed out for the University of Wyoming track and cross country teams.

Runners are an odd breed. Cross country teams are usually very close-knit groups of friends. The personalities of folks who choose to put themselves through that special kind of hell usually mesh very well and the social aspect of the sport is no small part of its appeal. It was no different with my brother. He was close to his fellow runners. Some were his roommates and best friends. Given that my brother was extraordinarily shy, this socializing was a good thing. My parents encouraged him to occasionally get out and do fun things as well as studying.