Last the Best of All the Game!

 

“First the Worst!

Second the Same!

Last the Best of all the game!”

We learned this chant when we were kids.  I think my mom taught it to us so we wouldn’t fight to be first – first in line, first to eat, first to get whatever…  But I think it rightly applies to our youngest sibling – Spencer Ralph Brady.

As you can see, Spencer was the last born in our Brady family.  And, I think the previous five might agree that perhaps he really is the best of all the game.

 

That’s a picture of the six of us in the autumn of 1963.  From left to right:  Squinty, smiley face Rob, tall, placid Cindy, strong, baby-holding Jim, baby Spence, four-eyed, poufy-hair Lorrie, and confident, happy Dave.  Spencer’s birth completed our family, but not the way Cindy and I would have preferred.  We wanted a baby sister.  Fair is fair.  There were already three boys, and only two girls.  We wanted things to be even-steven.  We wailed when we found out that the baby was another boy.  But, he was so darn cute that pretty soon we didn’t care that we had another brother.  We adored that baby.

Cindy claimed Spence the same way I had claimed Rob.  She fed him, bathed him, rocked him to sleep, played with him, read to him, sang to him, and protected him from the rest of us – most of the time.

This is not my favorite picture of Spence.  In fact, I’ve been looking for that favorite picture for some time and have finally given up.  This one was taken at about the same age – 3 years old.  The picture I love shows Spence dressed up in an Indian costume that my mom had made for Jim, full feathered headress, and a real (REAL) Bowie knife tucked ito his belt.  Cuz that’s how we rolled… or at least my brothers did.  I know that there were times when Spence got left out of things when Dad took “the boys” because he was the youngest.  He probably hated being left with “the girls,” but we loved it.  Eventually, he got old enough to go with Dad, and Cindy and I turned to teenage interests.

Spence was a great kid.  He was a fun baby, a happy toddler, a willing and obedient child, a smart student, a creative teen, who became a strong and insightful man.  He loved music, and would sing with the rest of us whether in the car or with Mom and Dad around the piano.  He put up with a lot from us – and could have been a very angry child – but, that wasn’t his nature.  He loved to cook, read, and play – and still does.

Spence thought about being a singer – putting his guitar and dog in a truck and touring the country singing wherever he could get a gig.  I encouraged him to record his music – even to the point that I booked the recording studio.  My favorite song that he wrote was called “Mannequin Women.”  She was a mannequin woman – they don’t get fat!  A mannequin woman – they don’t talk back!”  I would go into gales of laughter every time I heard it – everyone knows that both men and women get fat and talk back.  It cracked me up that there might be a remedy for that.

After deciding that a life on the road might not be for him, Spence went to law school.  He is a Deputy District Attorney – and an excellent one.  He uses that keen insight to put the bad guys in jail, and all that musical talent to put his kids to bed.  Cindy and I have long been glad that he is our brother.