What happened to Luke?

When you hear the name Luke, who do you think of? Some people immediately think of Luke Skywalker. Not me, I was not a big fan of those movies.



Others think of Luke and Laura.




Oh come on confess. I know there are a few General Hospital fans out there. Ok ok I will go first. Many years ago, in the time of Like and Laura, I was a General Hospital junkie. For about an entire year, I watched General Hospital without fail every day. Those days are behind me now though but I remember them well.

Still others (myself included) when hearing the name Luke think of the Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.


But soon thereafter I think of Matthew, Mark and Mike. Which brings me to my subject for the day. "What happened to Luke?"


My Aunt and Uncle had two boys. Their names were Matthew and Mark. When we heard that they were expecting another child, we just knew if it were a boy they would name him Luke. They did have a boy but they named him Mike instead. We all thought she was on a Biblical theme but it turns out she was on the M train. I can’t say I have heard the name Mike mentioned in the Bible. Maybe it was but I just can’t remember it. And Mike was anything but Biblical.

One summer we went to visit them in upstate NY. So there were 6 of us boys and our parents staying together in a two story house. They lived on a highway outside of town and there were no other houses for miles in any direction. One afternoon during our stay, our parents decided to go into town and have dinner. They left me in charge which was no big deal because what trouble could six unsupervised boys get into out in the country. There was also an abandoned apple orchard next to the house. So to pass the time we decided to go “exploring” in the orchard. Well one thing lead to another and before I knew it, each of us had a large pile of apples waiting on the first unsuspecting motorist to come by.

The first to arrive was an older model car with only an old woman passenger and a younger man driving. We bombarded the car as it went past and several apples found their target. The car slowed down but then went on. Next coming up the road was a large semi-truck. There was a huge hill in front of us so the truck was forced to slow down making it an easy target. I think we were 6 for 6 on this one and we quickly reloaded and hit it again. This time the truck stopped and began backing down the highway on the shoulder.



We left our posts and ran through the orchard and into the house. There we sat quietly with all the doors locked as the truck came to a stop in front of the house. How did he know it was us? Well duh, since we were at the only house within miles it was pretty obvious. I got everyone together and we agreed that if we just kept quiet he would go away. He was a huge trucker dude about 6’ tall, weighing around 300 lbs. He was covered in tattoos and had one that said “I hate kids”. At least that is what we suspected. I was too scared to look. After knocking on the door and not getting any answer he finally began to walk away. Sweat was running down my forehead. Too close for comfort I thought to myself. That’s when I heard him. Mike that was.

Let me stop here and tell you that their parents were what you could call morally liberal. They had few rules and didn’t believe in discipline. The two older boys had done a great job of teaching Mike every curse word known to man and the parents thought it was cute. Mike was a tiny boy with a big mouth.

Mike had climbed out of his bedroom window and was on the roof of the porch.
“Come back you dumb %#@* and fight like a man. He yelled.
“That’s right you big *%&$. We can take you. There are 6 of us in here.”

The man stopped and turned around and started to come back to the house but ended up just shaking his head and walking away. We all ran up to the bedroom in an attempt to shut Mike up and get him to come back inside. Mike continued to taunt the big man calling him a big %$#* coward for walking away. I have never felt so relieved as when he finally drove away.

A few hours later our parents came home. We were all sitting in the living room watching TV like little angles. My Aunt asked how it went and what we did. Mark spoke up and said that we just watched TV and nothing special happened. My Aunt smiled and said: that’s great, we are just glad you didn’t throw apples at cars or trucks. Oops busted. It seems that the old woman and her son and also the trucker both stopped at the only restaurant in town for dinner. News travels fast in a small town.

And speaking of Mark, I just started reading it. You know, the book that follows Matthew. I love the story of how Jesus healed the leper. After he healed him, Jesus told him not to tell anyone about it but to simply go live a good life. The leper though went out and told everyone what had happened, which forced Jesus to stay out of the large towns from then on. I wish the woman and the trucker had kept quiet. My Aunt and Uncle had to stay out of town for a while after that little incident too. And now you see why I say that Mike was anything but Biblical.


Have a great day,
Greg

Comments

sandy said…
ahhh great post. Reminds me now of a book I love, "Boys Life"....can't remember the author...

trying to catch up around here Greg, I'm so behind...

back in Luke and Laura days I was an avid fan too!
Kati said…
ROFLMBO!!!! OM gosh Greg!!!!! What a fabulous story. You've had my daughter and I sitting here reading it just busting a gut, laughing.

I'm wondering, though.... Did any of y'all wind up with a tanned hide for that misbehavior? *wink*
Kelly said…
WAHAHA!! I loved that story. Small town living at best. Everybody knows your business.

Michael is a biblical name, by the way. The arch angel is named Michael. Actually he is a fighter, so it seems that your Mike was appropriately named - although I doubt the angel Michael would curse.

As for the soaps, I was always a Guiding Light Fan. Now I realize what trash they are, and how they rot your brain.

Enjoy your reading!
Scarlet said…
I LOVE this story. The way you told it, I felt like a fly on the wall, like I was actually there. Good thing I wasn't there...I would've shoved an apple in Mike's mouth! :)

As for the name Luke, I think of the biblical one first, but yes, there was a time I would've thought of Tony Geary and only him. I loved General Hospital. Noah Drake and Blackie were my favorites.
Jeannie said…
Michael is one of the angels - not quite on par with Gabriel but he is up there.

As you say tho - your Mike was certainly not biblical
I'll be honest when you asked "what happened to Luke" I thought of the General Hospital!

I am not a General Hospital fan, I have watched Y&R for years!! He he!!

Loved the story, and will not spill the beans to much, but I was know to get into a little trouble at times myself growing up in a small town!!
Monogram Queen said…
I don't really know that I think of a particulare "Luke" although I did watch General Hospital and i'm familiar with the gospel as well. Definitely NOT a Star Wars fan. Ugh.

Your story is HILARIOUS. What a bold little fellow Mike was!!!
Wanda said…
Greg I thought the same thing...one of my favorite books "Boys Life". I think you could have been the main character in the book.

Our daughter is Michel (pronounced Michelle), did the M&M train. Her husband Miquel, her children Michael, Monique and Marc. We call them the M&M's.

Love and Hugs...and please keep telling us these wonderful stories.
This one would make a wonderful children's book with illustrations and maybe teach the consequences of fibbing!!!

LOL:Wanda
Lori said…
I don't think I'll have time to be online tomorrow so I wanted to drop you a line today wishing you a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.

Thanks for your prayer and support this past year.

Love,

Lori
Beverlydru said…
Wasn't Michael an archangel? Clearly not to be confused with your cousin. I have a son named Luke. Love the name, love him!! He's a firefighter... all grown up.
I only have 3 boys, but I shuddered when I read, "what trouble could six unsupervised boys get into out in the country."

Scary.

I can't believe you've been blogging this long and are JUST NOW sharing this story. How many more like that have you got? LOL!

Oh yeah, and I was a big Luke and Laura fan, too. I always LOVED her hair. Thanks for taking me back...but now I wouldn't touch a soap opera with a 10-foot pole. Yuck.
Greg! This is my favorite post of the week! "I hate kids" tattoo, or something like that, is hilarious.

I was a senior in high school during Luke and Laura. Ah, good times. Mindless, wasted times, but still good!

Happy Thanksgiving to a new friend who brightens up my bloggy world with a unique writing voice. I love coming here to see what you're up to. You do not disappoint!

May God bless you and your family as you celebrate His goodness.
Kristen said…
"They left me in charge which was no big deal because what trouble could six unsupervised boys get into out in the country."

LOL! This was a great story!

My mind definitely went to Luke Skywalker first. I loved the old Star Wars movies (not the new ones). And, you're not the first guy I've known who has been addicted to General Hospital. That's very interesting!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
My ADHD Me said…
That was SUCH a boy thing!!
Too funny.
I almost named my second son Luke.

I love this story!
Well, that took some unexpected turns...
What a great story Greg. I am just curious though...you said the boys were raised morally liberal.

Did they raise their kids the same way?
The Blonde Duck said…
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving!
"We all thought she was on a Biblical theme but it turns out she was on the M train." I love that line!
Have been out of town, but wanted to post a big Happy Thanksgiving to you!
sandy said…
happy turkey day Greg...hope it's wonderful for you and your family.
Edie said…
LOL! I can't believe you did that!
What a great story! ... So what happened to Luke??? :P

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Susan Skitt said…
Oh my, you were naughty :)

As for Mike in the Bible, there was a Mike, well, a Michael. The archangel :) But it sounds like that cousin of yours was far from angelic. However, like the Bible says, we are all sinners who need God's grace and salvation through Jesus Christ, right?

Hope you had a great day for Thanksgiving - and Praise God, my site is back up and running. Thanks for your concern and prayers :)
Robin Lambright said…
I just love seeing where my blog hopping will lead me. I found you from a comment over at 2nd cup.

Great post! I have to fess up and say that I’m two for two. I am a huge GH fan since my teen years, still watch from time to time. Luke and Laura are still going strong by the way, she just had a miraculous soap opera healing and came out of her permanent catatonic state, gotta love the soaps, and I am a huge fan of Star Wars as well.

I think we could all come up with a few naughty stories to tell from our youth to post about.
Anyway I really enjoyed this post, also the one before about shopping. You’re a braver soul than I am to venture out, but then I don’t have the shopping gene unlike most of my friends.
Blessings
And “I’ll be back!” to use a quote from another on of my favorites.
Robin

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