32 posts tagged “blogathon 2007”

the picture looks just like him, too

The thing about Dale (or 'Boober" as everyone called him) is that he wasn't just my adopted brother, he was everyones.  He was the big brother to every kid in Roseville.  He played ball with them, walked them to the playground to play, walked them home if they were afraid, defended them from bullies.  

He was also a terrific athlete.  He played baseball, football, and wrestled.  Though only in the 9th grade, he had already had college scouts looking at him for their football teams.  

He was a hometown hero and an all great guy.  His death shocked a lot of people, all of whom still miss him.  

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Memorial

This next picture brings a tear to my eyes.  It's the scoreboard at the baseball field by the playground we were at.  The reason for the tears?  Because that's my little brother, y'all.  

Well, no, not really, since we weren't blood related, but Dale McKay Jr. was the half-brother to my sister.  From the moment we met and we realized we shared a sibling, we became siblings ourselves, to the point where he called me his big sister and I called him my little brother.  

He died in 1994 when he was 16 years old.  He and two friends were driving down a country road, headed to town to pick up pizza for his parents and they wrecked the car.  It then burst into flames and the two in the front seat (Dale and another boy) died.  The backseat passenger -- Megan somebody -- managed to get away.  

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Finally!

Yeah, she finally made it!  

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Up, Up, UP

As you can see, she's still climbing her way to the top of that slide.  In her defense, it was a pretty TALL slide.  More like the one that used to be on the playground at my elementary school than one of the wimpy plastic things they have today.  It was rusty, too.  Makes you wonder why our parents and grandparents never drove themselves nuts worrying about their kids coming home with tetanus.  

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Slip-slidin' away!

Still more playground pictures.  I told you all, I have tons of them left!  That was a busy day for us!

Here's Brenna pausing on her way to the top of the slide.  Yes, top!  She, like any sane child, tried to climb the slide from bottom to top (as opposed to going up the ladder).

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Aaaaaaah!

This is the last one of Brenna on the swing.  I still didn't get a picture of her with her feet in the air, but the expression on her face is priceless.  

After I took this one, I paused for a moment to swing with her, and we had a contest to see who could swing the highest.  She won, of course, because the daughter should always win.

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still swingin'

Still swinging.  Is anyone getting bored of playground pictures yet? Too bad, because I have a few more.    

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Aren't you afraid I'm going to hit you?

More swing shots.  I was trying to get a picture of Brenna tipped back with her feet pointed at the sky, but she kept  pulling up.  Nuts.  

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swingin'

And since it just wouldn't be right to post playground pictures of just Mickey, here's some of Brenna on the swimgs.  Brenna loves to swing (so do I, actually) and it was fun watching her.

And since it just wouldn't be right to post playground pictures of just Mickey, here's some of Brenna on the swimgs.  Brenna loves to swing (so do I, actually) and it was fun watching her.

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