The Best Trip I Never Went On
He’s arguably the smartest person I know.. I listen with much respect when he speaks and his words mean the world to me. He’s my brother, Jason.
Jason laid on his hospital bed getting surgery on his pelvic bone, which, needless to say, ended his future as a football player. When my dad asked him what he was going to do with his life my brother looked up at him and said, “I’m going to go to law school.”
We all laughed. I laughed. I thought it must have been the drugs, but not too much later he was getting the results of the LSAT and the numbers quieted the laughter of our family. Before I go on, Jason wasn’t dumb by any means. He was just someone who was a 3.0 student his whole life.. Nothing flashy, he wasn’t up for valedictorian, he never got a sterling scholar award. Just cruised through high school and college.. but the moment he wanted to take the LSAT, he found himself in the top 3 percent in the nation. He chose Thomas Jefferson Law School in San Diego, California . Not a bad place to practice law..
When he graduated from there he walked out with many ropes around his neck and the honor and respect from all his professors.. not to mention the respect he got from his little brother.. what he did was nothing short of amazing.
I’ll save time and skip to the present day. He’s not a lawyer, he’s never in an office, he doesn’t ever wear a shirt and tie. He doesn’t deal with judges, attorney’s, criminals or other assholes that are found in the justice system. No, if you want to find my brother you go to a small restaurant in Moab called Eddie McStiffs. My brother works all night.. goes home to his tent.. no electricity, no tv, no rent, no bills, just him and nature.
He reads all day, not garbage magazine or books written by rich assholes with no view on what life is, no, he reads arts from Edward Abbey and . My brother’s mind is pure. Undiluted from what society tells him he should think, Jason’s mind is free.
Today we went on a bike ride. I got up ahead where I couldn’t hear anything but what god had put on this earth. Birds, bugs, wind, it was all there.. and soon I found myself at a fork with no knowledge of where to go. I sat my bike down and sat on the fork and just starred at the mountains in front of me; what a gorgeous view it was. It was then I caught myself thinking, I could do what Jason is doing in a heartbeat. How good it felt to get away from my warm house, my tv, my computer and my loud Ipod. Honestly, it felt good.. it probably should feel good, that is my roots, that is where I came from. As much as humans try to pack things around them, they can’t ever deny where they came from. We are all part of nature and nature is part of us. My brother’s attempts to get back to his roots have caught my attention. I’d love to do something like that. He asked me to travel with him down to Mexico for two months where we’d just travel around and bike ride. How amazing would that be.. I had to decline because I am currently training for the 2008 season.. but how much I would love to do that. Not just to spend time with my brother with no worries, rules, schedules or plans.. but just to rewind my mind to remind it where I came from.
This was written out of respect for you bro. I respect what you’re doin, who you’re tryin to become and what you believe. I wish I could help, but I know you understand I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do. Do me a favor, don’t change for anybody, raise your middle finger to those who refuse to understand you and lend a hand to those who respect you. Be safe. Be you. In that order…
And enjoy the best trip I never got to go on…
