Yesterday I went to the 27th Annual Fenway National Night Out party over in the West Fens, and actually won something in the raffle – a blue/gray Red Sox teeshirt, Medium. Anyone with even the most glancing awareness of my being knows that there’s no way that being could be squeezed into a medium teeshirt. The great thing is that whatever spirit moves the world moved that shirt into my hands so that I could present it to one of the real winners of the day.

This was a young man, somewhere between 12 and 15, who was taking care of his younger brother, around 4 or 5. I saw him quite a few times from my post at the Fenway News Online table, and was always impressed by the fact that he was so obviously not resenting his responsibility. He was making sure that his little brother had fun, and he was enjoying it.

My youngest brother was born when I was almost 9, and my mother had to go back to work in my father’s office as much as she could as soon as she could. So from age 8 3/4 to 12, I had primary responsibility for Timothy after school and on Saturdays, and of course all day on vacations. This is not to mention his older sister Beverly and even older brother Randy, for whom, as the oldest, I was also responsible.

So this young man at National Night Out reminded me of me when I was a little younger than he is now. At least of the part of me that handled the responsibility as gladly as he seemed to – but I wasn’t always glad. It’s great when watching someone in public reminds you of the better part of yourself – so I felt a need to reward this young man for his performance of brotherly love by giving him the teeshirt.

I don’t know what his name is or where he lives, because I didn’t stay to chat after I passed the shirt over. But I think he exemplified the spirit of the day in the way he tried to make the world safe and fun for his little brother. As far as I’m concerned he was the biggest winner of the day.