Huey, Dewey, and Louie

I always try to come up with a catchy title that will bring people in. In my last post I said that I would be writing about my biological nephews. I tried to come up with a clever way to include nephews in the title. I opted to go with the three most famous nephews that I know, the nephews of Donald Duck!

My nephews look nothing like the Ducks. They don’t wear matching clothes nor do any of them have feathers. And I am happy to report, as far as I know, none of them walk around pants-less!

I have five nephews. Each one of my four siblings had at least one boy child. My oldest brother, Don, had two. Unfortunately it is these two, Derek and Doug that I know almost nothing about. They grew up in California and Oklahoma. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen them in my life. Here is what I do know. They are both married to lovely women, who give me some insight into their lives through Facebook. I wish I knew them better.

That leaves the three nephews that I grew up with. Keith, Chris, and Jim. They are all ten to fifteen years younger than I am. My best memory of all of them together comes from the annual George Touch Football Game every New Years Day on my brother Gary’s slanted yard/field in Walnutport.

Keith is my oldest nephew. He is my only sister’s second child. I can remember spending lots of time with him when I visited my sister. We never spent time alone because he always had his imaginary friend, Booger, with him. Today we play lots of Words with Friends. He wins ninety percent of the games!

The first time I met Jim was when he was a newborn. I walked from my uptown confirmation class to their downtown home on Chestnut Street. I didn’t know, at that time, that a few years later I would be a big brother to him as I moved into their home after my mom died. Interestingly, he and I took a guided walking tour of Slatington recently and we walked past that Chestnut Street home. I told him that house is very special to me because it is where I lost my virginity! We had a good laugh over that.

That leaves Chris, my brother Gary’s son. My favorite memory of him was a competitive one. I once had a picnic at my house and set up the most elaborate croquet course ever. It was filled with obstacles and he just loved it. As I recall, he was the most competitive guy in our touch football games too.

That’s my little journey into nephew-hood. Like with my nieces, I love them all, and wish we could have more time together. Thanks for indulging my look back at family. I realize most of you know none of these people! But I bet most of you also have nieces and nephews. Maybe today is a good day to reach out and tell them you love them.