It was not always easy being the baby of the family; my two older brothers used to gang up on me and beat the crap out of me.  My brothers would also torture me as well: I remember they would hold me down and make siren noises in my ears until I cried.  Rest assured I hold no ill feelings toward my brothers because boys will be boys.  If anything, being beaten up and tortured made me tougher.  Now I know some of you who are a first or middle child are probably thinking, “Poor baby” because the baby of the family gets away with every thing, right?  Some years ago, I read somewhere that children of three were treated as follows: the baby of the family was treated as the middle child, the middle child was treated as the baby, and the oldest was treated as an only child.  I found this to be very interesting, and I believe a good part of it is true from my experience.

I remember the day both of my brothers left for college; it was a sad day for me because I would be all alone which was something I was not use to.  Do not get me wrong, as I was happy for them and proud of them for getting into college, though I knew that day could possibly never arrive for me.  After my brothers were away at college, I knew most of the focus would be on me, and I would have to try even harder to stay out of trouble and not spend the rest of my life grounded.

I can not remember if my brothers were there or at college, but I was at Lake Gaston in Virginia with my parents and grandparents; I was hanging out at the game room with this girl I had met.  Instead of butthole, she called me wholebutt which I found amusing.  Well, it was late and she needed a ride by boat back to her campground.  There was a pontoon boat that was heading that way, but there was an older drunk guy on the boat talking trash to her that I did not trust, so I told her not to go with them, and I would get her home, so she stayed with me and my friends.  The only problem was I had to ask my Father if I could drive the boat to take her home, and it was probably around midnight; I did not have much experience driving the boat at night.

I went into the camper where my parents and grandparents were sleeping, and I woke Pop up and asked if I could take a girl home in the boat, and he quickly said no!  I did not know what to do; I promised this girl a way home, and I could not let her get into trouble, so I took the boat anyway.  I knew the key was in it, and I knew the lake well, and I had been driving it since I was twelve years of age.  Besides, it was only a couple hundred yards away.  So, me being the wholebutt that I am, totally disobeyed my father and we all got in the boat and went on our way.  It was a beautiful night out on the water.  I had turned the boat lights on in case there was another boat or boats out, but there was not; we had to whole lake to ourselves.  The stars and moon were shining bright and the water was calm as could be.  The light on front of the boat showed red and green, and the light on the back showed white.  It was so nice, I decided to cut the boat off and just sit there to take everything in; what could go wrong?

After sitting in the water for a bit, I finally realized I would be in a world of trouble if I got caught, so I tried to start the boat and it would not start.  We all started to freak out, and I could imagine Pop yelling at me for having to get towed in the middle of the night when I did not have his permission to be on the water in the first place.  I tried to crank the boat a third time, and as soon as I turned the key I gassed it, and away we went.  I was so relieved, and I took her straight to the pier she needed to get to, and I made it back safely.  I often wonder if Pop knew I had disobeyed him, but as far as I know I did it without getting caught.  All in all, I think I did a good thing getting my friend home safely, and that just meant I would get to see her again.

Perhaps the baby of the family does get away with everything; I mean, you can not believe everything you read unless it is the Bible.  When I look back on all the things I got away with without my parents permission, I count myself very fortunate.  Maybe I was just out of hand, or maybe I was crafty or a liar.  I am happy to say I am not that way now, so I will also say that my parents did a great job raising my brothers and me.  The things you get away with as a teenager or kid do not always hold up when you are an adult.

When I was 26 years of age, I was living in Concord, NC, and I had just received a second DWI.  I was living in a rundown trailer with a guy from Texas, and I swear the trailer was haunted.  Anyway, I did not have a driver license, and I was home alone with nothing to do, so I decided I was going to drive to Coyote Joe’s in Charlotte to hang out; what can I say?  I was desperate to get out of that trailer.  I took a chance on driving 30 minutes to get to my destination, and everything was fine until a highway patrolman entered the interstate right beside me.  I was trying to be cool, but I must have panicked because I slowly passed him, and that was when he turned on those blue lights that were all too familiar.

I pulled over, and the patrolman asked me for my driver license; being desperate and taking a desperate measure, I lied and told him I left it at home, and patrolman and police officers do not like being lied to, and I learned that the hard way.  The patrolman said, “You don’t have a license do you?”  I said, “No sir.”  The patrolman wrote me a ticket for driving without a license.  I had already been to court for my DWI, and here I was getting into more trouble, and my lawyer told me specifically not to drive.  However, the nice patrolman did not take me to jail like he could have; instead, he called a fellow patrolman to come pick me up and take me somewhere close by.  I went to a waffle house, and I called a girl I knew and asked if she could pick me up and take me to Coyote Joe’s.  Being the sweet girl she was, she did what I asked.

While I was serving time in prison for my DWI’s, my mother wrote a letter to the
District Attorney in the county where I got my ticket for driving without a license, and they dropped it since I was already serving time; that could have been time added to my sentence if my mother had not written the DA.  Even when I lied, even when I disobeyed, even when I did something stupid, my family was and is there for me because they love me; even though I am the baby of the family, and I am spoiled; spoiled with love.  I am so grateful my family never gave up on me because they easily could have.  Thank you!

I love you all!

Take care and God bless!

Chris