My 'little' brother

35 years ago today, my little brother Cody Martin was born.

He had the rare privilege of entering this world at my maternal grandparent's home in Eagle Idaho, complete with Doctor (grampa) and Nurse (gramma) attending.

Dad, my sister and I were four hours away, on the ranch waiting for the news. I don't remember hoping whether I would get a brother or sister, just excited about it.

That morning, quite early, I was being up because I thought I heard the phone ring. I had some tea at the table all bleary-eyed (I was ten), and all of a sudden dad came scooting down the stairs grabbed the phone off the wall and furiously dialing the rotary plate. 1-208-939-0397.. ( I remember it- I think)
I asked, "Did Mom have the baby?", "Yes" was the reply.
"What is it?"
"A boy.'
"What did you name him?"
"Cody Martin."
"Cody?!?!" ( thinking, what kind of name is that?)

And 12 hours later, my sister and I were taking turns holding our wrinkly and pink baby brother.
(He is still wrinkly.. may not as pink though)

When he was little, we would play with him like a toy. He was our real "Baby Alive" (a doll that was popular in the 70's 'cause it would eat and poop- yeah, I know.) We would dress him up, make costumes for him, and mom would get furious over it.
One time I 'surprised' mom by using a marker on his bottom that said, "Hi Mom!" so when she changed him she would see it. Mom didn't think that was as funny as I thought...

He would get into everything. The fireplace (no fire-don't go there), the woodbox, the fridge (when mom was defrosting it), the muddy garden, the chicken house, the barn, even the milk buckets! He was constantly losing his cloth diaper. He was hard to keep nailed to one spot. Good thing mom had us around to help because she had a hard time keeping track of him.

My sister and I dressed him up in a blanket cape, a toilet brush and one of those rubber flowered swim caps that a cousin handed down and called him "Toilet king" or "Super Toad".

He had just about every pair of Underoos. (remember those?) He could wear the Superman ones and believe he was Superman. It was his imagination that inspired me to write about my Wonder Woman panties. (thanks, bro!)

He was a huge fan of Star Wars, Buck Rodger in the 21st Century, and Battlestar Galactica (the original series), and he got all kinds of cool toys. We should have kept them- they are collector's items now. It also gave him the nickname "Buck Rodgers" from Uncle Pat. I  laughed every time he said it.(my sister and I modified it to 'Buck Toad' to fit in with the toilet bowl thing).

In the summertime, our big black lab Liza would pull him around on the inner tube while he held her tail. They both had a blast.

Mom hated cutting his hair and I was a cosmetology student by the time he was nine, so I remember cutting his hair quite a bit. He would pull the "you're cutting my ear" crap with me as little boys do, and I got pissed at him and shaved his head. Dad got a little miffed. That is until ALL the boys in grade school wanted the same haircut as Cody. (Not sure if all the other moms thought that was cool but oh well..)

I had been in and out of the military during his teen years, and when I was home on leave I drove him from Drewsey (home) to where mom lived at the time (Creswell), which is pretty much a cross-state drive. We would tell funny stories, act weird and laugh about all kinds of things. We made up an alphabet that made me laugh so hard I almost wrecked the car. (we never told mom- that would have ended the fun right then!)
I can't really reproduce any of it here because it was NOT G-rated. Or even PG-13.
I might not have been the best influence on him, but I was me, and one thing Cody is, is himself.
And that is a good thing.
He gave ten years of his life to the US Army, and finished up as a Staff Seargent. He survived our father's tragic death, a bad divorce, and his dream career crashing down with the economy. I'm proud to say he turned out alright. Even with my help.

He is now living the good life in Harney county, with a wonderful fiancee`.

But he will always be my widdle baby brudder.
Happy Birthday, Cody. I love you. "You done good."