I'm not Neil, I'm the other one
For me, the crowning glory of this year's HPF came from an entirely unexpected direction. For years now I've only seen Sam's son Sean at Heartland. Sean's mother moved to Alabama (with him, of course) about fifteen years ago. When he was a baby and a toddler I often babysitted him, but early memories fade as we grow older, and I didn't think I was a very important figure in Sean's life.
This year Sean's mother didn't come to HPF. But Sean came, and brought along his best friend. Sean's in college now and in his early 20's.
On Saturday night I found myself sitting by our group's community fire with Kyle (Sean's friend). The young man passed me a bottle of mead and said, "Try this, Neil." When I told him my name was Alaric, he apologized profusely and explained his error. He said Sean had told him so much about his Uncle Neil and his Uncle Alaric. Neil is the brother of Sean's birth mother, and thus his biological uncle, but apparently I have a significant rank as his tribal uncle. It made me feel good to hear that.
Kyle added, "Sean was real excited that I was going to meet his 'weird uncle' and his 'gay uncle'."
I had to think about this for a minute; then I remembered that Neil is entirely heterosexual, so I must be the gay one.
This year Sean's mother didn't come to HPF. But Sean came, and brought along his best friend. Sean's in college now and in his early 20's.
On Saturday night I found myself sitting by our group's community fire with Kyle (Sean's friend). The young man passed me a bottle of mead and said, "Try this, Neil." When I told him my name was Alaric, he apologized profusely and explained his error. He said Sean had told him so much about his Uncle Neil and his Uncle Alaric. Neil is the brother of Sean's birth mother, and thus his biological uncle, but apparently I have a significant rank as his tribal uncle. It made me feel good to hear that.
Kyle added, "Sean was real excited that I was going to meet his 'weird uncle' and his 'gay uncle'."
I had to think about this for a minute; then I remembered that Neil is entirely heterosexual, so I must be the gay one.