A Tale Of Two Brothers.

[Eamonn]

Back home in the good old 17th we had a lot of brothers in the troop. At times I was and still am amazed at how brothers can be so different.

I don't know if it was because I was England or if it was because it was the 70's but I had never heard of ADD or any such disorder.

We had the McFeve Brothers. Andy, the oldest by just over a year, was a super Lad. He really enjoyed anything and everything that came his way. The bad thing was that he couldn't sit still for anything over a minute and would take off on some half baked idea without any idea where he was going or why he was going there. He had a wonderful sense of humor and at times used it to cover the mishaps that he got himself into. He was by far about the worst PL we ever had.

His younger brother Bruce was a different sort of Lad. Where Andy was skinny and tall, Bruce was very square set. He was much quieter than Andy, but everyone was quieter than Andy. He seemed to weigh up the pros and cons while processing any information that came his way. Sad to say when things didn't go his way he would get into a fight. Of all the fights I ever had to brake-up Bruce was in at least half of them. He did turn out to be an OK PL.

Looking at the two of them Andy would more than lightly today be termed ADD. While I know it isn't right to have favorites, Andy was one of mine. He seen things as an adventure, I felt really happy to be around him. Even when I was balling him out for doing something that was totally stupid, it was impossible to be mad or upset with him -Because he was Andy.

Bruce on the other hand never really gained my entire trust. There was something there that I didn't like. He looked for the loop holes and short cuts.

Both Lads joined the British Army. Andy found a home and made a career of it. Bruce did three or four years and went to work for a security company.

I do keep in contact with both of them. Andy is still getting himself into dumb situations and Bruce is now a Cubmaster back in England, with his two boys. Andy is thinking about getting remarried.

I think that if Andy had been on some sort of medication, he might have done better at school and maybe working with him might not have been such a challenge. But I hate to think that something might have squashed the great spirit that he had.

They were both two great Lads. They came from a very proud and very Scottish family. I think that's were the fighting came from!!

Eamonn.