Darryl Burke adds some color (& humor) to his big brother’s life in this brief synopsis of the early years with Brad.

Brad Burke was born in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada, as the first child and son to David and Lucille Burke.

Brad, as a baby and toddler, was a bright and moldable youngin’ with a full head of teeth. As an avid reader of the Harlequin—oops, I meant Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, it is no wonder he started writing!

By the time Brad was ready to attend school (don’t forget he was bright!) he was bored with playing in the sand box and was really upset he didn’t yet have his own desk and one of those pocket protectors full of pens!

Brad’s school day started out by getting his brother to make his bed for him (usually with a half-caked bribe) then trekking out the half mile dirt road – rain, sleet or hail, to catch the school bus.

Oh yes I must say a little about the family business. Our father, being a watchmaker, made a point of giving Brad his first wristwatch. This windup wonder had Brad amazed at how Mickey Mouse could tell when the bus would come each and every day! Brad was told that if the big hand on his Mickey Mouse (c) watch was at the “3″ then he had missed the bus and had to walk the half mile back home. He missed the bus so often, dilly-dallying along the roadside, thinking of issues beyond his years! Little did he know what was in store for him around the corner.

A few years later Brad would decide that life at home really wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. (His brother was getting to him and he just had to get out.) So he put his boots on and set out over the frozen lake on a cool winter day. Brad’s mother looked out over the lake with amazement at how far this determination was going to take her young son. Some would say, “how cruel,” but Brad has been known to show signs of persistence, and his mother?—well, this was one lesson she wasn’t going to miss! You see Brad’s mother knew that Brad had thought this well out in advance. She also knew that this experience would deeply affect his younger brother and ultimately change the course of events in his life. His brother would try to tie this subversive tactic of Brad’s to an interest in espionage but none of this can be verified. His brother however changed his evil ways and they became good friends.

As with most of his studies a particular letter kept creeping up on his report card. “A”. This was to the dismay of his brother who couldn’t afford to buy a vowel!

Yet by the age of 9, Brad decided he wanted to become a physician and the rest is in the history books. In those family history books, you’ll find his younger brother (me) and sister would experiment with splints and tourniquets on all their dolls.

And yes, young Brad was quite the medical consultant. At the age of eleven, his younger brother (we won’t reveal his name he is being investigated by the RCMP and CSIS on a long and lengthy charges stemming from his adventures in far away lands) this brother had a real large problem with his ears. You could say this brother wanted them reduced and couldn’t wait to grow into them. Brad in his wisdom (from the Hardy Boy Books) knew that all it would take was a little plastic surgery. This was so cutting edge that even their mother wasn’t quite up on the procedure! Plus she thought that it would give his brother an even bigger complex. Yes he was quite bright!

Brad Burke: Sports and Medicine Go Hand in Hand

I must say that it was a sad day in Canadian sports the year that Brad decided to try his hand at bowling instead of donning the tube skates and slapping the silly puck around the ice. His brother thought he was crazy, but Brad, being the real thinker he is, thought that bowlers get a little more game time and don’t warm the bench as much.

Brad became an avid bowler, learning the angles and wouldn’t you know it, he later decided to creep back into hockey as a goaltender, where he could play the entire game while using his new found skills from bowling.

Years later, as a goaltender, Brad decided to take his talent in the sport on the road. He headed out to, you know… a place well known for hockey. California!

Yes that’s right, all those Canadian boys down there reliving their childhood fantasies in front of an arena full of screaming Californian girls.

You see, this was Brad’s downfall. Entrusting his custom-made equipment to a couple of girls who would eventually leave his equipment outside on the curb in LA. “Now why do you think she left it out on the curb?” you might ask.

“It was that putrid smell and we thought something died in there!” they said.

Well that was it for Brad and hockey.

Since flying black discs traveling at 90 mph was not his particular slice of cake, Brad then decided to try motocross racing. Brad pushed himself each ride trying to shave off seconds from each consecutive trip. This practice led to a “night out on the town” – a one way ambulance ride to the Emergency Department at the Kingston General Hospital. “SHHH Don’t Tell Mom!” he said as he was wheeled on a stretcher into the back of the ambulance.

Oh and yes his brother did have to dress him and clean him up, combing his hair for that “night out on the town”. Good thing since he spent three days in the hospital.

Oh ya, I did forgot to mention that in between the sandbox and the trip to the hospital, Brad attended Medical School at Queens in Kingston and he was a full fledged MD by this time. I think he found it very interesting to catch up on old times with his colleagues in between X-Rays!

Luckily it was only his bike and pride that received the most injuries that day.

Given Brad’s previous exploits it is only fitting that he is now practicing Rehabilitation Medicine (we wish him well in his long road to recovery.)

During his hiatus from medicine, in his Rehab years, Brad decided he should devote his time to writing. And writing he did, five full years of it!

Brad Burke: A Family Man?

Brad Burke, in my opinion, was the most eligible bachelor. But then he went off and got married. And I was his best man! He was stricken and smitten by this really nice girl from Michigan. Unlike my toast at the wedding reception, I have nothing to say that could shed light on this romance. But he followed his little brother’s footsteps by following his heart.

Despite having no children of his own, Brad is an uncle five times over.

Now even though Brad had a profound effect on his sister when they were both young, the influence didn’t really show until she decided to leave home and start a family of her own (with the help of a willing young man who possessed a love for farming). Four young ones later, Brad played a pivotal role in teaching these moldable minds how to ‘hunt beaver’. (Yes those havoc-wreaking varmint we find gnawing down our decorative trees on the front lawns.) Brad escorted his sister and the little ones out on an expedition along a beaver swamp at midnight. You can visualize Brad leading the small pack and the sister beside with the flashlight, and all the kids yelling to each other “SHHH YULE SCARE OFF THE BWEEVERS!”

Brad has also used his theological knowledge to put his young nephew’s fears to rest that there are in fact “NO monsters in the world!”

Each of the young ones loves Brad and can’t wait till the next big adventure.

And now I leave you with a thought from a young tot—Brad’s eldest nephew. One night he prayed, “…and please be with Uncle Brad in the Hospital and help him not to make people sicker than they already are. Amen!”

Darryl Burke