Born in May 1936 on
Walnut Ridge, My uncle, Raymond Brewer, entered the world with a surprise – he
was paralyzed from the waist down. Various reasons have been given, but the
general consensus is that his spine snapped during a breech birth. None of that
seemed to matter to Raymond. He wore braces and walked on crutches his whole
life. No one ever bothered to tell him that he may be handicapped. He would
deny it if they did.
At a young age, he rode his pony with style.
Getting on it was a site to behold, but Raymond never asked for help (for that
or anything else). He was a regular on the back of the log truck for the Medora
free shows.
At twelve, he was driving a 1934 Ford truck.
He would put his crutches in the back, and drag himself into the seat. The
orchestration of crutches, hands, and mouth to get it started (take it out of
gear, one crutch on the brake, other on the starter, advance the spark, pull
out the throttle, other crutch on the floor starter), put it in gear (move left
crutch to clutch, right crutch bouncing between the brake and accelerator), and
then go (ease out the clutch with the left crutch, deftly move the right crutch
to the accelerator), and go (grasp the ‘spinner’ on the steering wheel with his
left hand, time the clutch with changing gears with his right hand). He made it
seem effortless.
He had a steady hand. He spent years as a
watch repairman (many of them at Bellows Jewelry on South Main). He later
became a navigation gyro repairman at the Crane Naval Center where we got many
awards.
Nothing stopped Raymond. He was an avid deer
and elk hunter (with the help of an ATV) in many states. He also changed the
asphalt shingles on a house by himself (including carrying them UP A
LADDER).
If anything defined
Raymond, it was music. It was hard to tell where Raymond ended and the steel
guitar began. He always brought an additional dimension to every bluegrass
song. He played his music like he lived his life – with clarity and passion. He
set a great example for us all.
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