The “Bruce” Board

I think it’s possible to miss someone you never met.  I miss the actor Robin Williams and the rock star Tom Petty, for example.  And I miss Brother Bruce—at least I’m certain I missed-out—because he passed before I met that girl and all her family.

As I hear it, Bruce was highly intelligent, industrious, playful, and more than a little bit devious.

Yesterday, that girl and her sister helped me install a section of the circular-sawn fir flooring at the cabin.  The girls picked out boards for the desired pattern and helped me force the tongue and groove boards into place so I could nail them down.  As we worked along, we developed a pretty good rhythm.

“Bruce would have loved this.”  One of the girls remarked after we finished a row of boards.

“You know,” I said, “This cabin and my house are both filled with notes and messages inside the walls and under finish things.  I think we need to install a ‘Bruce board’ in the next row.  Why don’t you pick out a board and write something on the back of it for Bruce.  We will place it where it will always be visible.  He can be a part of this, too.”

I have posted a couple photographs of the girls writing notes to Brother Bruce on the back of the board they chose for him.  As it turns out, the board has one beautiful and conspicuous knot at its center, but is otherwise clear.  The Bruce board is now at the center of the cabin’s kitchen.

We missed you yesterday, Brother Bruce.

— Mitchell Hegman