Brant was a charismatic guy. His smile could light up a room, and his laugh was contagious. He was quick with the comeback, sarcastic at times. Brant was a caring son, a dedicated brother, and loyal friend.
I am thankful of all the fond memories I have of Brant. He and I were forced to be cousins, but we chose to be friends. ‘The Cousins’ spent a great deal of time together as small children. Amber, Josh, Brant and I were all close in age- not even 3 years between the oldest Amber, and myself.
Summer days were spent on the beach in front of Brant and Amber’s house. Off to the left there was a smooth ledge that jutted out from the rest and created our own little beach, our haven. ‘The Jumping Ledge’ as we referred to it, became our personal diving board and when high tide rolled around it was just right to jump off of, the water barely reaching our waists.
Brant was born on the cut off date for school. Dawn and Rob chose to keep him at home a year longer, which placed he and I in the same class. Mornings spent in Kindergarten I remember Brant building the tallest castles out of the big cardboard blocks. He was always a little taller than the rest and able to put that one extra block on that made his structures seemingly gigantic.
While Josh and Amber would be stuck in a full day of school, Brant and I would get off the bus at one another’s houses and spend the days letting our imaginations run wild. One day while the others were at School, Brant’s mother Dawn took Brant and I to the pet store to pick out cats for him and Amber. Brant proceeded to name his cat “Fuzz Bucket”.
Sleepovers at Gram Jo’s were the best. There were two guest rooms- the boy’s room and the girl’s room. There was no questioning that the boys would get the blue room adorned with blueberry prints and the most beautiful view of Mackerel Cove. And the girls would take the white room with its white pearly comforter. Not once did we switch places. Each room had a fold out desk where we would sit and write letters back and forth to one another and place in the desk as if it were our own mailbox. Years later you could look in the desks and find the remains of the letters and pictures. In the summers sleepovers would include a day on the boat the next day water skiing, exploring Jewels Island or lounging on the beach on Long Island…Or maybe it was the toy chest and cookie jar that Gram Jo assured was never empty that made Grams house so memorable.
Brant lived for the ocean. Whether it was lounging on the River Rats in front of the house, skiff racing in the ‘Ambra’ or the summers he spent lobstering, the ocean was his sanctuary. For several summers he was Josh’s stern man. These summers are some of Josh’s favorite memories. As they lifted traps over the side of the Sandy Lee they joked about the summer girls they were chasing, or the pair of underwear the girls had left in Brant’s white T-bird as a joke.
On June 2nd 2001 Brant and I graduated from High School. Brant and I chose to march together. I remember when he asked me he said, “I think we should march together to make picture taking easier for Gram.” I was proud to walk that day- proud more of Brant than myself. I was always quite academic, but Brant hated school. He didn’t see the need for a diploma since he knew that his calling was to work on the ocean. However, he persevered and graduated because it was what his mother wanted.
After graduation Brant did well for himself. At 21 he had purchased a boat, and named it Rambunctious. He worked hard and bought a home of his own and still had enough to get the toys that he enjoyed so much- his four wheeler and his snow mobiles. The boys often took trips up to the Camp in Northern Maine where we had spent many childhood days playing in the field. They would snowmobile the trails through the mountains.
One of my favorite memories of Brant was the Thanksgiving before he died. Brant had purchased the camp next to my families. My family was up at camp, as we are every thanksgiving, and Brant had come up to spend the night before with us before going to Amber’s house to have dinner. My father had recently been diagnosed with diabetes. Well, Brant and Josh showed up with a bottle of Captain Morgan’s and started making drinks for the three of them. A few hours later my mother and I showed up and my mom was not happy that my father was having a drink with the new diagnosis. Brant looked my mother in the eye and said, “Don’t worry Sandy, it is DIET coke.” He was so quick witted.
When I went off to college I would often get random phone calls from Brant to check in. Always wanting to know if I had any ‘hot friends’. One night I went home with a couple of my friends to have dinner at a local restaurant, the same place where Brant docked his boat. As I was leaving I saw Brant walk up over the dock. Without hesitation he jumped in my car and headed back to school with me for the night to go to a party. I loved the spontaneity and fire in Brant.
On March 24th 2004, Brant’s life was tragically taken at the young age of 21. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of Brant and smile. His graduation tassel hangs from my rearview mirror and his picture by my bed. Amber summed it up best in her tribute
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to Brant in the paper, “…the world lost a fiery soul, a son, a brother, an uncle to be, a lobsterman and a happy, good man.”
