It is no wonder that I have a warped sense of humor.  That sense of humor comes naturally because my whole family has one.  When my sister was alive and we had get-togethers it was like a comedy sitcom.  We'd all be trying to out-do each other with our jokes and antics to see who could get the bigger laugh.

The youngest of 5, I had three brothers and one sister.  I had the pleasure of following in my youngest sibling's footsteps 8 years after him and his reputation stuck around.  When I was growing up I spent my first 5 years of school at Templeton Hill School, which is now a city fire hall on South Ocoee Street.    Apparently, he was quite the daredevil or speed demon.  I constantly heard, "Don't do like Terry did", when we'd go to the gym.  My teachers and principal never missed a day saying that to me and reminding me not to run in my sock feet in the gym because Terry had slid into a bleacher and cut his head. 

I came along 8 years after Mom thought she was through having babies.  I had brothers that were teen and preteen years and my sister was 9.  She was like my second momma where as Terry was all boy.  Being he was 8 years old when I was born, by the time I got old enough to really notice him he was out and gone all the time.  He hung around the stock barn most of the time.  The things I recall are strictly my memory of events and may not be his memories, I'm sure if I thought I did these things I'd want to forget too.  (smile)

I remember when he tried to make sesame seed buns and used birdseed to sprinkle on top of regular buns.  Oh yuck--and he ate them.  Then the time my sister made her self a hamburger and sat it in a chair while she went to get her a drink.  When she returned he had made himself comfortable in her chair--on top of the hamburger.  Amidst the shrieks and squeals from my sister he finally got up to find a pancake where her hamburger had been.  "I won't eat that now, after you sat on it, YOU eat it." She screamed and he did eat it.

There was another time when one of my other brothers put a transistor radio under the mattress of the bed they shared.  Terry got in trouble for something and ran to hide under the covers, when he jumped on the mattress he broke the transistor.  Larry pulled it out and it looked like its guts were hanging out.  Little wires dangling with electrical components on the ends of them. 

Another memory is of him driving a big truck used to haul cattle in while owner slept in the passenger seat.  Terry was barely big enough to see over the dashboard. 

You never knew what antic Terry would pull from one minute to the next.  Once I went to my mother's with a couple of my husband's nieces and Terry was there.  I was talking to mom as she went about the house doing odd chores and the girls were following me.  Well, Terry was following them without speaking.  They kept looking nervously over their shoulders at him wondering what he was going to do.  Soon we stopped in the kitchen where mom had a box of cat food on the counter.  Terry took his hand like a paw and knocked it over then acted as though his finger tips were cat paws dancing on the box and sung, "Meow, meow, meow, meow…";  (like the cat on the Purina Cat food commercial).    Needless to say he scared the be-jeezus out of them.   

You can always count on Terry for a good joke to make you laugh.  I always used to compare Terry to Jerry Lewis when describing him.  Now he has a mini-me, it's my Uncle Danny.  Those two together are uncontrollable.    He also has a sidekick like the long Ranger's Tonto; Terry's is named Jim (and that's a whole other story).  (smile)

My brother, although a comical character, is also a successful businessman in Florida.  He told me he went to Jacksonville to catch cats on army bases and now has a very busy pest control company.  I don't get to see my brother as much as I'd like to, he's so busy he only gets to come on rare overnight trips to see mom, his children and grandchildren that are here in Cleveland.  That keeps him running while he's here making sure he gets around to see all of them.  I just want to let him know, I love ya, brother.