11.21.05
brother story
Last weekend I repainted some lattice work on our front porch that Lucas fixed when he came to visit our house. I think of him everytime I see how he rigged it together.
I remember a couple years ago when I went to Atlanta looking for work. I met up with Lucas and Alan and we had gone out to a bar to see some band. Lucas and I were having a great time together and Alan started looking all depressed…When Lucas asked him what was wrong; Alan said” I wish MY brother was here”…it was hilarious at the time…and Lucas tried to make him feel better “hey man I’m like your brother come on”…
I think Lucas would have had fun watching that Auburn-Alabama game on Saturday…particularly the 11 sacks…I still can’t believe Lucas is gone. I am thankful for the website and the stories though. I check the website several times a week.
Gabe
Tarlie Harris said,
November 22, 2005 at 1:28 pm
Lucas and Gabe picture, Montgomery back yard, Summer 1998
i know what you mean…he helped us paint our apartment, me and him went and got a lot of the supplies together, since he was so good at that kind of stuff and i had no idea and rob was at work. we painted the main room yellow and the kitchen a bright red. then i wanted to paint all the beams in the main room the same color red, so we did one beam red to test it out. lucas voted to do the rest of the beams red, he thought it looked cool and was like “yea go for it”, but in the end, we did them white. so now i think of him every time i look at the one red beam in our apartment. i also think about him finishing the ceiling with dad in the basement of the bham house….and the brick patio and stairs in the yard….his handywork is definitely everywhere. he was always so helpful. when i was just home it struck me that lucas wasn’t there to carry my bags up the stairs to my room like he always did and i don’t think it would even occur to anyone else to do that for me.
i was reading through some notes of his this weekend that he wrote in high school, in one of them he writes all of the lyrics to “Song of the South” which made me smile because I know that both me and him knew all those lyrics by heart because you would listen to that song all the time and sat and taught us all the words. he had also written the lyrics to “patches” down, which i know you introduced him to (or vice versa) and i think maybe bear’s middle name was supposed to be patches…he had doodled bear patches around…
Rachel Durden said,
November 22, 2005 at 7:25 pm
I had forgotten about “Patches”! I can visualize him singing the “I was born and raised in Alabama” part. He could really hit those low vocals! I drove by our old house this weekend in Auburn and saw the deck that he built. It was originally at our first place but when we moved he cut it up & rebuilt it again at our new place. He loved building things – and taking them apart. We had a whole closet full of electronics that he would pick up off of the side of the road to salvage parts or to try & fix them. I remember coming home one day to find Lucas on the floor with my new $2000 computer (that I used daily) in pieces. He couldn’t quite put it back together (it wouldn’t even turn on) so we had to call the dell maintenance guy to come fix it. It’s one of those things we looked back on and laughed but at the time it was frustrating.
Tarlie Harris said,
November 23, 2005 at 2:27 pm
Another picture, Gabe and Lucas in Key West, 2005
waltermoss said,
November 23, 2005 at 6:04 pm
I remember when Lucas came up for a weekend when I was at the University of Alabama. At the time Lucas was a Senior at STJ and physically fit to the point that it was purely up to Lucas whether anyone around would be tackled. Moreover, I was fortunate that Lucas did not tackle me, because if he had wanted to, well, I would be tackled. Like I said though he did not tackle me.
Lucas did, however, shake my hand when he brought a crew of friends up to hang out with us (I can’t remember who was with me)in my room at the SAE house one night during a band party. I will have you know that still to this day, that was the most solidly performed handshake I ever been a part of in my life.
I am the type of guy that appreciate’s a good handshake… confident, sincere, humble, strong, caring, respectful, appreciative, happy, excited to see you, no bullshit… I repeat, no bullshit. That’s how I still remember Lucas to this day when I think about him. Simply a solid human being. The kind of man that you KNOW would be in your corner if shit hit the fan.
Behind Lucas’s handshake aka “the handshake” are the handshakes of family members, close friends, a guy that played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers, and a modest business tycoon.
I miss Lucas. I haven’t seen him in years, although I did speak to him not too long before he passed away (which hurts me that I did not see to help), but anyway people like Lucas, that care just because they care are my favorite people. Honestly, I really can’t compare anybody to him. He cared more for others than he did for himself.
Everybody has issues…I have issues, you have issues, anybody that has ever truly lived has issues, and I don’t know pained him. All I know is that I love Lucas and the Harris family. Lucas is a man of honor, a man of loyalty, a great spirit to this earth, and as I said… #1 hankshake of all time, no doubt.
Alan said,
November 29, 2005 at 7:47 pm
Damn that handshake almost broke my hand one time Walter, which was weird because Lucas and me never really shook hands (we usually just hugged or a high five for some reason).
I have often tried to emulate that handshake but to no avail.
Ill keep trying though.
Alan said,
November 29, 2005 at 7:52 pm
Gabe,
Lucas wouldve loved that Iron Bowl man. 11 sacks? Cmon youve got to be kidding me. Jacob, Michael Reid and I sat about 40 rows from where your parents season tickets are and everytime we got a sack I would just look in that direction.
I remember after the 99 Iron Bowl loss to bama at Jordan Hare, Lucas and I were soo mad that we ran back to his castle house and basically threw every peice of furniture in sight!! I am glad that Auburn has gotten them back over the years for us.
PS We had a good time in Atlanta that night after we picked you up from the ESPN zone. Sorry I was being a dork!
Jacob Kirkland said,
November 30, 2005 at 2:14 pm
I can see Lucas holding up his 4 fingers with his big ole smile now….