HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! BROTHER

{picture taken at Harry Carey restaurant in Chicago IL,}

On the left is my brother Neil Anderson. We actually have different parents and are only children. We consider ourselves being closer than most brothers. For plus twenty five years we have lived three hundred miles apart yet we touch base at least once per week. Some weeks it is three or more times. Thank goodness for eight hundred numbers and cell phones. Even though we have different parents and childhoods it is scary how many similarities we have.
*** Both of us were born at St Anthonys hospital in St Louis
*** We eat only Saltine crackers,Hydrox cookies,and Brooks catsup
*** Though we did not know each other we both married in 1959.
*** We both graduated from high school in 1956
There are many stories I could share about our special friendship but three seem biblical to me.
The first happened in the early seventies right here in St Louis when neither of us had any real financial resources. Our wives [both wonderful women] wanted to hear John Davidson perform at a hotel in Fenton. In addition to a service charge we both paid $25.00 for four cokes as they had a two drink minimum. In 2006 $25.00 does not sound like much but in 1970 $25.00 would probably be close to $100.00 today. We still talk about that night and a couple of years ago Nancy and I met John Davidson on a cruise.
The second was a family trip we took around 1976. Neil rented a Winnebago from his uncle and took his family of four and my family of five on a wild trip to Kentucky and back. In a three night trip we saw Churchill Downs,Steven Foster's home, Mammoth Cave, the Shaker settlement in Pleasant Hill Ky. Abe Lincoln's boyhood home and on our last day we swam in Kentucky Lake. We covered over eight hundred miles from Thurs. about 7:00 PM till Sunday about 8:00 PM.Our family still talks about that weekend.
Last but not least in our mature years we usually meet somewhere nice for a great weekend. In 1997 we met in New York city and did many things. My personal goal was to see a game in Yankee stadium, a Broadway show, go to the top of the Empire State building and see the Statute of Liberty. We accomplished my goals. In addition we had a great meal at Tavern on the Green at 6:00 PM. on a Saturday without reservations and dressed very casual. How Neil obtained a table for four is still a puzzle as he has not shared how he accomplished this.
I could go on and on because all of our times together have been memorable.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL
YOUR BROTHER
ED