This is my first post ever re posted...

and in the re posting it was removed from the original spot! So much to blog, so little expertise!

One Year Anniversary Of This Blog

And I Still Won't Shut Up! My Brother, His Car and Kansas Maybe childhood remembrances increase as my age increases. Today it all started because I was at Wal-Mart to purchase a few things on my list. I stopped briefly on the midway to scan the cheap cds kiosk. I found and bought a Very Best of Kansas cd. It was only $4.00. Kansas, the band, reminds me of my brother, Steve. I have two brothers. Steve is older by two years and John is younger by 4 years. Sometime I may write a remembrance about John. (#19 from the list is a remembrance and here is a photo of John and his cycle with Christine!)

Steve and I lived in the same house, shared the same parents, meals, vacations and bathroom. We chatted, laughed, joked, rarely bickered and generally enjoyed each other, but we had different friends and different interests. Something we did have in common was a love for music. Whenever we took family vacations we usually went to West Virginia to see relatives. Steve and I sang together in the car; songs from the radio that we could harmonize and often times our mom would request us to sing one of her favorites without radio accompaniment.

Back in the mid 70's Steve worked for Hutch Ice or at our Dad's plumbing/refrigeration shop. His main goal for making money was to spend it on his car: a 1966 Chevy Super Sport. The car was his pride and joy. It was slick. It was fast. It was loud. It had awesome wheels. It was cherry red. It was cool. It was even "bad". It was what some guys think was a chick magnet. (I never understood that whole thing.) He rebuilt, reworked and "pimped up" that car to a near immaculate muscle car status using money he made at his jobs.

On the infrequent occasions I took to sit in or ride in his car I liked his stereo best. He had a system worthy of his cool car! He usually had a Kansas (8 track) in the player. He played the music loud. He knew the songs. He sang the songs and I loved to hear him sing. If I did ride in his car, we didn't usually talk. We listened to music and the band, Kansas was one of our favorites!

Kerry Livgren, one band members wrote many of the songs for Kansas and later became a believer. Some of his songs have definite hints that God was calling him to relationship... There is a 700 Club interview available (Part one and Two) (I know. The 700 club? Yikes. But where else did a "famous" new Christian get much air time back then?). Here are some other links to get a feel for Kansas and Livgren. (In older clips, Kerry is the slim guitarist/keyboardist w/ straight blond hair) You can look here and here!

Back to my brother, Steve. One summer morning back then I got up to find out that disaster had struck our home. My brother's car had broken down and had to be left on the side of the road overnight. When he and my mom went to get it next morning they found that it had been stripped. Almost everything that could be taken was taken including the steering wheel. My brother's mixture of heart break and anger was evident and understandable.

I have often remembered that time and the loss he felt. The money, the work and the heart he put into that car. Listening to Kansas today made me remember all this again. This is just another part of my history and a reminder to me to pray for my family. It is a reminder that God uses all of our stuff and stories.

My brother still loves cars. He has some old cars that he is restoring. He has some old motorcycles and some new Harleys. They are his thing. Our history and stories help to define who we are. A few things I know are: Kansas, the band, rocks! (So does Kansas, the state.) God is our Rock and okay, though my brother's car and others like it have no magnetic pull for me I do appreciate them and my brother's car rocked! Steve is standing (3rd from right with a beard) and his son is the tallest one standing next to him!