My brother, Charles "Chuck"
Wesley Wright III, died this week. I don't think he was ever
comfortable being Charles Wesley Wright the Third, but I know he
enjoyed being Chuck Wright.
Chuck Wright wore a smile and had a lot
of friends. Chuck stood 6 foot 3 1/2, but people looked up to him
because of his character. Chuck was a leader from the day I was
born.
As kids, it seems like we did
everything together. We roomed together and played whatever sport
was in season together. We swam, shot baskets, played golf, and wore
out the grass in both the front and back yard playing catch and
throwing grounders to each other. Chuck was good at all of these
sports and I tagged along because I was his little brother. He
played shortstop and center field on a local team that included
future Major Leaguer Mike Torrez. I got my face in the team photo as
the batboy. Chuck won a local election to serve as the batboy for
the Topeka Reds, Topeka's minor league baseball team. One year
later, I got to be the batboy. No election this time. The club
asked Chuck to do it again and he said "No, let my brother do it
this year."
Chuck was good at elections. In Junior
High, Chuck ran for President of the Student Council. With all the
school assembled in the auditorium, his campaign manager, a fellow
student named Jackie Stewart, gave a stemwinder of a speech,
explaining why students should vote for Chuck. He was to end the
speech with the campaign slogan, but he messed it up. "Remember,"
he said, "You can't go Wright with Wrong!" The students
howled with laughter at the mistake, Jackie's face turned red in
embarrassment, and Chuck was elected by a landslide.
It was great to be Chuck's little
brother! On the first day of school, when the teacher calls the
class roll for the first time and puts a name with a face,
invariably, after my name was called, I would be asked if I was
related to Chuck. "Yes," I said, noting the smile on the
teacher's face.
Even better, girls - older girls -
looked at me and talked to me because I was Chuck's little brother!
Of course, he earned every award there
was to earn in Scouts and never shied away from helping me follow the
path he set. He presented me with my Eagle Scout Award. In front of
the assembly, he shook my hand and, according to the ceremony, was
supposed to say "I congratulate you as a brother Eagle
Scout...." With a sly grin and perfect timing, he said, "I
congratulate you for being my brother...and for being an Eagle
Scout."
Chuck showed me how to throw a
curveball, and then, after I tried to throw one, he showed me how to
repair a broken window. I developed an expertise in window repair,
not pitching. He served as best man at my wedding; I served as his.
I thought my relationship with him would last forever, and it has,
but along the way, it changed. He left home to attend KU, I stayed
in Topeka. He married a wonderful lady, Sherri, (photo) and they always
welcomed me into their home. They moved away from Topeka and began a
family...a wonderful family who I wish lived closer to me and who I
wish I knew better, but a phone call or visit always brought Chuck
and me back to our youth - to the wonderful times when there were
just the two of us - and the world was ours.
The record shows his name to be Charles
Wesley Wright the Third, and while he might have been the third of
one thing, in my book, he was the first in all other things. He was
one of a kind and, Chuck, until we meet again Thank You for
Everything...for the example you have been for me...for everything
you've taught me...for what you've done for me and Thank You for
being my brother.
