“It just needs…”

The other day, my youngest started a potential car-purchase conversation with me that went, “…it just needs…” and after immediately telling him to walk away from such a potential purchase, I immediately zoned out and took a ride down Memory Lane with my late brother.

My brother seemed to get great deals on vehicles, usually cars, that “…just needed…” It might have been a new battery, a different motor, tires, alternator, transmission, windows…the list went on and on. One time it was brakes, which we found out when he drove it for the first time after the ink had dried on the Title. He had to put the car into a ditch so that we didn’t drive over the cliff at the curve in the road.

There were so many stories, but they usually resulted in him wanting to use my car or my other brother’s while his was in the shop. I only loaned him mine twice, because I obviously didn’t learn the first time – he trashed the linkage in mine two times but neither time did he pay for the damages.

He borrowed my other brother’s car and totaled it. It wasn’t his fault that time, but accidents looked for my brother for a place to happen. My brother went through more cars in the first year of his driving career than I’ve ever owned in my lifetime!

One time he was on his Harley, was waiting for a light to change and a motorist rear-ended him.

Another time, he was loading up the family’s pick-up truck to make a dump-run and tossed a 2×4 into the back of the truck. It bounced, then went through the back window and through the windshield.

He backed into an airplane once. Not sure what was wrong with his car, but he lost his job as an assistant to the crop-dusting company after that.

One time he was going too fast on a gravel road and didn’t make the turn, resulting in us teetering on the edge of a canal. I still cringe when I look back on that night!

My brother had a good heart though, but I never took his advice when it came to buying a car, because he most often fell for the sob stories of the people who were hoping to sell him their lemons. I probably saved hundreds of dollars doing so, but I sure enjoyed hearing his stories!

I miss those, big brother, and miss you too.