titles
so, initially, I was just a "son".
Oh I'm sure you can make the case I simultaneously became a "grandson" and a "nephew". But really those are just variations on the same theme. For what is a "grandson" if not the "son" of my child? Or a "nephew" if not the "son" of my sibling? "Son" pretty much covered it.
And I guess technically I was also at that moment a "half-brother", my father having a daughter from a previous marriage, but lets stay on point.
I guess the next title I garnered was "friend". It came after I had acquired some semblance of social skills. Like not punching people who took too long playing with my toys and biting playmates. This took some time. Some would claim it is still a work in progress.
Six years hence my debut I became a "brother" upon the birth of "baby brother", an event memorialized by myself as crucial in my life. Any time prior to his arrival I refer to as "the golden years" (just Mom, Dad and me, with no one to share them with!) From that point on life has just gone downhill.
Took a spell before I took on any new titles. The next would be nearly two decades later when I became a "husband", "the lovely Mrs." foolishly saying "I do" at the least opportune moment. Someone should have warned her she would rue the day! Once again, their were "riffs" on that theme, mostly followed by the modifier "in-law". But a "son-in-law" is just another way of saying "loser that married my daughter"
That continued for another 5 years when I became a "father". I prefer "dad" really. Father sounds rather stodgy and intimidating. It carries an air of dignity. Something I sorely lack. I think "precious daughter" preferred Dad too. Easier to spell for one thing. Just those three little letters was all she needed to refer to me. Just an A and a T and an M.
But that was it. A son, a friend, a husband and a dad. With no change in my status for over a quarter of a century. Then came last Friday, April 10. Good Friday on the Christian calendar. GREAT Friday in our family, for you see last Friday I for the first time in my life became "an uncle", "baby brother" and my sister-in-law, "the married one" adding to their family a bouncing baby boy! Hence forth to be referred here to as "pony boy".
Of course we knew this was going to happen. Hard to keep things like this quiet. There was a shower a few weeks back for one thing. And they got a lot of stuff for a baby there so I just put those facts together and came up with unclehood!
"The lovely Mrs." and I went for a walk Friday afternoon late, to mail a bill at the post office and on our way home we stopped off at a fast food place for a snack. Sat inside and talked for a half hour or so and talked about the anticipated "blessed event". Our theories and hopes for this child (still yet unborn) and genderless to all save "baby brother" and my sister-in-law, "the married one". Those two can sure keep a secret.
Upon leaving the fast food place, I checked my phone, more for volume than anything, to turn it up from it's vibrate mode that I prefer in restaurants. Saw I had just missed a call from "baby brother" and I mean JUST, like a minute before so I hurriedly called him back. You could hear some caterwauling going on in the background and it sounded too youthful to be my sister-in-law "the married one" in labor. "You hear that?" said "baby brother". "That is the sound of your new nephew." Hokie smoke, Bullwinkle! I'm an uncle!
A while later, at home, I received an cel-phone notification that someone had texted me a picture. Now "texting" is something of which I do very little. I think my mechanic texted me once to tell me my truck was ready. Why, I don't know. Other than that about the only texts I ever get are from my cel phone provider wanting my money. And how one goes about getting a PHOTO I am clueless!
So I called "precious daughter" more so to find out if she had sent it to me. When I asked she said, "yeah, you can't get pictures on your phone." There was laughter in the background. She explained it was "the geek-in-law" laughing that I had a cel phone so antiquated it could not receive photos. He quickly corrected her for true reason for his mirth. "He said he was laughing because "baby brother" could be so foolish as to THINK he could send you a photo on your antiquated cel phone!"
But anyway, obviously she had not sent me the photo so I asked if it had come from "baby brother" and she said it had and she had received it too. "I know you are not going to think these two sentences go together, Dad, but 1) he's SO cute! And 2) "he looks just like "baby brother." To which I replied, "what? Bald and with a big nose?"
See for yourself here: http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/?mivt=oEormTJim5kVqhak0Qfh&shareMameHMS_frsthg1
In another phone conversation with "baby brother" the following day, I inquired of him. The legend in our family has grown up around his birth that immediately upon exiting our "sainted mother" he chose that moment to void his bladder. Supposedly the attending nurse exclaimed, "what a brute!" So I asked him if "pony boy" was able to maintain bladder control better than his dad had. He said, "no he was going from the other end." My response was, "well that's just plain rude." "That's my boy!" replied "baby brother"
"The lovely Mrs." and I trekked down to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to check out this latest addition to mankind for ourselves. We were somewhat later than intended, thanks to my failure to master our numerical freeway system. They will always be the Golden State and Harbor to me and less "the 5" and "the 110" respectively. Note: our Eastern friends derisively chide us for adding the definite article to those numbers. They correct us and say "you don't take THE 5, you take 5!" Whatever, but had I been more numeric-geographic savvy I would have gone a completely different way and avoided sitting in traffic!
I apologized to "baby brother" for my tardiness (after I blamed him - "you know I hate the San Diego, ERRRR 405!") but then playfully told them both that actually "the lovely Mrs" wanted to stop off at Target and bring "pony boy" a gift. I nixed the deal, because I didn't want to be later than we were going to be already, explaining why we were empty-handed. "Besides", I added, "it's really hard to find a USC football this time of year."
Posh digs! New hospital and my how things have changed since my baby making days! For one thing, my sister-in-law "the married one" works for a healthcare provider. So unlike most newborns and mothers she was not booted out of the hospital mere hours after giving birth. They were going to let her stay until Sunday. In her private room, no less. I said to her (she is a Disneyland-phile) "you must have got the Deluxe Park-hopper Passport!"
Now my stoicism is well known. Ice water in the veins. Shed not a tear for "precious daughter's" birth or nuptials. Observed "the lovely Mrs" C-section with detached implacability. Unemotional some say. She says "dead inside" But I must admit when my eyes fell on "pony boy" for the first time, laying there beside his mother, I misted up more than I could ever imagine. Did you know babies can be real small?! Guess I forgot over the years. But I pretty much lost it. To think something like "pony boy" could ever come from "baby brother."
"The lovely Mrs." was the first to hold him. "I'm an auntie!" she exclaimed for "baby brother's" video camera. I had asked her earlier if she was going to be an "auntie" or an "aunt" (pronounced ant) or an "aunt" (pronounced Ont)? Best I can tell if you use Ont, you have to correct "pony boy's" grammar when he gets excited. She foolishly said to "pony boy" "Oh, I'm gonna spoil you!", "baby brother's" video camera capturing it all for the kid to refer back to when her birthday presents don't quite measure up to his standards.
"The lovely Mrs." claims she can see some of both "baby brother" and my sister-in-law "the married one" in "pony boy" And a little of my dad. I wouldn't know. I'm terrible at those things. Seeing "someone" in a baby or a child. I see Matthew McConaughy in "meine Deutsche freund" and everyone goes "huh?" So I see things that AREN'T there and am oblivious to the obvious. Sort of a metaphor for my life.
I was a little more hesitant to hold "pony boy". Been awhile. And even when it was "precious daughter" I was only slightly more confident. My thinking is if you drop and break yours, yeah it's bad, but you drop and break someone else's it's downright embarrassing!
They wisely convinced me to sit down before I held him. And so I did. Looking at his perfectly round face, his full head of brown hair (more than his father!), that little tongue that would dart out occasionally between well deserved yawns (already the kid thinks I'm boring!) I couldn't help but praise and thank God for His goodness and His answering our months and months of prayers.
He occasionally would open his eyes (they appeared to be blue to my undiscerning observation) They tell me that babies only see shadows and blurs so soon after birth. And that their field of view ends only inches from their face. I wouldn't know. But I got the feeling he knew he was looking upon his favorite uncle. Chesed. Late.
Oh I'm sure you can make the case I simultaneously became a "grandson" and a "nephew". But really those are just variations on the same theme. For what is a "grandson" if not the "son" of my child? Or a "nephew" if not the "son" of my sibling? "Son" pretty much covered it.
And I guess technically I was also at that moment a "half-brother", my father having a daughter from a previous marriage, but lets stay on point.
I guess the next title I garnered was "friend". It came after I had acquired some semblance of social skills. Like not punching people who took too long playing with my toys and biting playmates. This took some time. Some would claim it is still a work in progress.
Six years hence my debut I became a "brother" upon the birth of "baby brother", an event memorialized by myself as crucial in my life. Any time prior to his arrival I refer to as "the golden years" (just Mom, Dad and me, with no one to share them with!) From that point on life has just gone downhill.
Took a spell before I took on any new titles. The next would be nearly two decades later when I became a "husband", "the lovely Mrs." foolishly saying "I do" at the least opportune moment. Someone should have warned her she would rue the day! Once again, their were "riffs" on that theme, mostly followed by the modifier "in-law". But a "son-in-law" is just another way of saying "loser that married my daughter"
That continued for another 5 years when I became a "father". I prefer "dad" really. Father sounds rather stodgy and intimidating. It carries an air of dignity. Something I sorely lack. I think "precious daughter" preferred Dad too. Easier to spell for one thing. Just those three little letters was all she needed to refer to me. Just an A and a T and an M.
But that was it. A son, a friend, a husband and a dad. With no change in my status for over a quarter of a century. Then came last Friday, April 10. Good Friday on the Christian calendar. GREAT Friday in our family, for you see last Friday I for the first time in my life became "an uncle", "baby brother" and my sister-in-law, "the married one" adding to their family a bouncing baby boy! Hence forth to be referred here to as "pony boy".
Of course we knew this was going to happen. Hard to keep things like this quiet. There was a shower a few weeks back for one thing. And they got a lot of stuff for a baby there so I just put those facts together and came up with unclehood!
"The lovely Mrs." and I went for a walk Friday afternoon late, to mail a bill at the post office and on our way home we stopped off at a fast food place for a snack. Sat inside and talked for a half hour or so and talked about the anticipated "blessed event". Our theories and hopes for this child (still yet unborn) and genderless to all save "baby brother" and my sister-in-law, "the married one". Those two can sure keep a secret.
Upon leaving the fast food place, I checked my phone, more for volume than anything, to turn it up from it's vibrate mode that I prefer in restaurants. Saw I had just missed a call from "baby brother" and I mean JUST, like a minute before so I hurriedly called him back. You could hear some caterwauling going on in the background and it sounded too youthful to be my sister-in-law "the married one" in labor. "You hear that?" said "baby brother". "That is the sound of your new nephew." Hokie smoke, Bullwinkle! I'm an uncle!
A while later, at home, I received an cel-phone notification that someone had texted me a picture. Now "texting" is something of which I do very little. I think my mechanic texted me once to tell me my truck was ready. Why, I don't know. Other than that about the only texts I ever get are from my cel phone provider wanting my money. And how one goes about getting a PHOTO I am clueless!
So I called "precious daughter" more so to find out if she had sent it to me. When I asked she said, "yeah, you can't get pictures on your phone." There was laughter in the background. She explained it was "the geek-in-law" laughing that I had a cel phone so antiquated it could not receive photos. He quickly corrected her for true reason for his mirth. "He said he was laughing because "baby brother" could be so foolish as to THINK he could send you a photo on your antiquated cel phone!"
But anyway, obviously she had not sent me the photo so I asked if it had come from "baby brother" and she said it had and she had received it too. "I know you are not going to think these two sentences go together, Dad, but 1) he's SO cute! And 2) "he looks just like "baby brother." To which I replied, "what? Bald and with a big nose?"
See for yourself here: http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/?mivt=oEormTJim5kVqhak0Qfh&shareMameHMS_frsthg1
In another phone conversation with "baby brother" the following day, I inquired of him. The legend in our family has grown up around his birth that immediately upon exiting our "sainted mother" he chose that moment to void his bladder. Supposedly the attending nurse exclaimed, "what a brute!" So I asked him if "pony boy" was able to maintain bladder control better than his dad had. He said, "no he was going from the other end." My response was, "well that's just plain rude." "That's my boy!" replied "baby brother"
"The lovely Mrs." and I trekked down to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to check out this latest addition to mankind for ourselves. We were somewhat later than intended, thanks to my failure to master our numerical freeway system. They will always be the Golden State and Harbor to me and less "the 5" and "the 110" respectively. Note: our Eastern friends derisively chide us for adding the definite article to those numbers. They correct us and say "you don't take THE 5, you take 5!" Whatever, but had I been more numeric-geographic savvy I would have gone a completely different way and avoided sitting in traffic!
I apologized to "baby brother" for my tardiness (after I blamed him - "you know I hate the San Diego, ERRRR 405!") but then playfully told them both that actually "the lovely Mrs" wanted to stop off at Target and bring "pony boy" a gift. I nixed the deal, because I didn't want to be later than we were going to be already, explaining why we were empty-handed. "Besides", I added, "it's really hard to find a USC football this time of year."
Posh digs! New hospital and my how things have changed since my baby making days! For one thing, my sister-in-law "the married one" works for a healthcare provider. So unlike most newborns and mothers she was not booted out of the hospital mere hours after giving birth. They were going to let her stay until Sunday. In her private room, no less. I said to her (she is a Disneyland-phile) "you must have got the Deluxe Park-hopper Passport!"
Now my stoicism is well known. Ice water in the veins. Shed not a tear for "precious daughter's" birth or nuptials. Observed "the lovely Mrs" C-section with detached implacability. Unemotional some say. She says "dead inside" But I must admit when my eyes fell on "pony boy" for the first time, laying there beside his mother, I misted up more than I could ever imagine. Did you know babies can be real small?! Guess I forgot over the years. But I pretty much lost it. To think something like "pony boy" could ever come from "baby brother."
"The lovely Mrs." was the first to hold him. "I'm an auntie!" she exclaimed for "baby brother's" video camera. I had asked her earlier if she was going to be an "auntie" or an "aunt" (pronounced ant) or an "aunt" (pronounced Ont)? Best I can tell if you use Ont, you have to correct "pony boy's" grammar when he gets excited. She foolishly said to "pony boy" "Oh, I'm gonna spoil you!", "baby brother's" video camera capturing it all for the kid to refer back to when her birthday presents don't quite measure up to his standards.
"The lovely Mrs." claims she can see some of both "baby brother" and my sister-in-law "the married one" in "pony boy" And a little of my dad. I wouldn't know. I'm terrible at those things. Seeing "someone" in a baby or a child. I see Matthew McConaughy in "meine Deutsche freund" and everyone goes "huh?" So I see things that AREN'T there and am oblivious to the obvious. Sort of a metaphor for my life.
I was a little more hesitant to hold "pony boy". Been awhile. And even when it was "precious daughter" I was only slightly more confident. My thinking is if you drop and break yours, yeah it's bad, but you drop and break someone else's it's downright embarrassing!
They wisely convinced me to sit down before I held him. And so I did. Looking at his perfectly round face, his full head of brown hair (more than his father!), that little tongue that would dart out occasionally between well deserved yawns (already the kid thinks I'm boring!) I couldn't help but praise and thank God for His goodness and His answering our months and months of prayers.
He occasionally would open his eyes (they appeared to be blue to my undiscerning observation) They tell me that babies only see shadows and blurs so soon after birth. And that their field of view ends only inches from their face. I wouldn't know. But I got the feeling he knew he was looking upon his favorite uncle. Chesed. Late.