Thanksgiving 2040 Kinney-Taylor house. Taylor Peterson-Marcus has just opened the door to his Grandfather’s bedroom. “Granddaddy where are you? I’m almost ready to leave. Oh shit, Granddaddy why aren’t you ready? Granddaddy it’s time for you to get up.” “Hmph. What’s wrong Taylor?” “You slept through your alarm. You’ve just enough time to shower and get dressed so that we can get to Aunt Molly’s in time for Thanksgiving Dinner. How did you sleep through that alarm? Michael's already left for Emmett’s.” “Taylor I’m not going to Thanksgiving Dinner or meeting up with everyone at Emmett’s for a supper tonight. I‘m old Taylor my hearing isn‘t what it used to be and I‘ve always been able to sleep through an alarm when I want to.” “Yes you’re going Granddaddy. You’ll get up and get ready if I have to dump you onto the floor myself.” “Taylor you’re too much like your Dad for my good. We don‘t even want to think about how much like Justin you are. That being said I‘m still not going to Molly’s for dinner.” “Well Granddaddy you know as well as I do that Dad and Papa would want you to go to this Thanksgiving Dinner.” “Taylor you don’t play fair.” “I learned from Papa how to deal with you. Now get up and take a shower while I go finish the appetizers I’m making for our part of the meal.” “Taylor why do I have to go?” “If for no other reason, to take me since I‘m not old enough to drive myself across town. Granddaddy this is the first major holiday since, you know, so we have to go and be with our family. Grandma Jenn and Aunt Molly are expecting us and we’re going to be there. I wasn’t kidding I’ll dump you onto the floor if I have to. The fact that you sleep naked won’t keep me from doing it either. I’ve seen you naked enough times that it doesn’t embarrass me any more. Papa told me a long time ago that your bark is much worse than your bite. Though I never understood why he got such a happy look on his face when he said that.” “Go finish your appetizers; I’ll get up. Taylor I’ll go but I won’t promise to be good company. When have you seen me naked?” “That’s fine Granddaddy but you won’t be able to help yourself, Papa taught you how to behave in public. According to Papa he had to teach you a lot of things over the years. Jeez Granddaddy I‘ve been living in this house with you for over four years I don‘t know how many times I‘ve seen you naked. Papa once told me that you were getting forgetful in your old age and simply forgot to put your pants on. I told him that I knew when he was pulling my chain and he just lit up the room with one of his smiles.” “You and Justin talked about me? I taught Justin a thing or two over the years as well. The world's a dimmer place since, well you know.” “Yes Granddaddy, Papa and I talked about everything. He told me a lot of stories about you and him; and about Dad when he was a boy. I’m glad he did considering, well you know. He told me that he was very happy about what you had taught him about life. He said that he was very happy that he stopped under that lamppost instead of going home. He also said that he liked it when you forgot to put on your pants.” “Well Sunshine always was the talker of the family. I was very happy he stopped under that lamppost too. Taylor I know when my chain is being pulled; I never in my life forgot to put my pants on, shoes maybe but pants never. What was your favorite Gus story?” “I suppose it had to be how he got you and Papa back together as a couple. Did you really think he expected you to play in a sandbox?” “As silly as it sounds yes I did, Sonnyboy played the two of us perfectly that night. Of course he kept playing us and everyone else in the family pretty much up till, well you know.” “I miss them so much Granddaddy. Will the pain ever go away? It still hurts when I think about Mommy.” “I miss them too Taylor and yes the pain will go away with time but our memories of them will stay with us forever. We'll have to take the time to talk about the stories Justin told you so that you don’t forget them. Of course I’m sure Sunshine left some good stories out when he told you the Brian and Justin story so I’ll have to fill those blanks in.” “Sounds good to me Granddaddy, what kind of stories?” “Ones where Sunshine wasn’t the hero.” “Well we don’t have time now but we’ll make the time Granddaddy, in the future, I never want to forget Dad or Papa. Now get your skinny naked butt out of that bed and into the shower.” “I. AM. NOT. SKINNY.” “Papa told me that the reason you insist on being skinny is so that your attributes are emphasized even more than they would be if you had more flesh on your bones, what did he mean?” “Taylor go finish your appetizers while I get into the shower.” “Papa told me that would be your reaction to that statement.” “I think Sunshine did entirely too much talking. Now get out of here unless you want to see grandfatherly attributes.” “I’m going I’m going, don’t take too long though Granddaddy we have to be at Aunt Molly’s in an hour.” “Don’t worry Taylor I don’t take long showers anymore since, well you know.” *** “We’re here Taylor, just exactly who's going to be here today?” “Who do you expect Granddaddy?” “I don’t know, why do you think I asked you?” “Granddaddy you have to try to be nice today. To answer your question, Grandma Jenn, Aunt Molly, Uncle Stan, Tommy, Joyce, and the baby.” “The whole Taylor gang, what about Anna?” “Anna and Marlene are spending the holiday with Marlene’s parents in Harrisburg.” “Well I suppose we should gird our loins, get your appetizers and go face the lions.” “Granddaddy it won’t be that bad, they’re family after all.” “I know Gus’ Sonnyboy I was trying to be funny.” “Papa always said you shouldn’t try to be funny.” “Like I said earlier, Justin talked too much. Well I suppose we can’t sit out here much longer without our hosts coming out to see what is taking us so long.” *** Meanwhile inside the Weatherly home the Taylor clan are in the living room. “They’re here Mom. Remember everyone don’t bring up Justin or Gus unless Brian does first. Taylor let it slip that Brian still has nightmares about that horrible day.” “Molly I’m sure we all still have nightmares about that day. I’m not so sure that not talking about Justin and Gus is the best for Brian but I’ll go along with you since this's your home. Joyce I’ll hold the baby while you youngsters get dinner ready.” “Mom we’ll play it by ear but I don’t want to hurt Brian in any way. Taylor found Justin’s recipe for green bean casserole for me, Justin often told me that was about the only vegetable dish where Brian would consistently eat a full serving. Justin always wanted to fatten Brian up but he would never give me a real reason why he wanted Brian to gain weight. He would give me some foolish reason and then light up the room with one of his Sunshine smiles.” “Well Mom, Uncle Justin told me once that Uncle Brian’s butt was simply too bony for comfort then he turned so red I thought he would explode.” “Tommy that's more than I wanted to know.” “It was more than I wanted to know and it was more than Uncle Justin wanted to say but like they say, life happens. I remember Gus telling me once that he had to trick Uncle Justin and Uncle Brian into thinking he wasn’t looking at them before they would kiss if he was in the room.” “Times were different back then Tommy and even more different when Brian was growing up. He was so afraid that people would think he was trying to recruit Gus into the homosexual lifestyle that he went out of his way to keep his affection for Justin hidden from Gus. Though from what Gus told me he knew from day one that Brian and Justin loved each other and did so physically and that it never bothered him in the slightest. He told me that he liked watching them kiss since it proved how much they loved each other and how happy it made them.” “Grandma I can remember Gus telling me how he could make his Dad speechless by simply saying something even remotely sexual. For some reason Uncle Brian was a total prude about sex when it came to Gus. He also told me that he learned a magic trick from Uncle Brian when he was little. That whenever he wanted to turn Uncle Justin red all he had to do was call him a beautiful creature. It was amazing how quickly Uncle Justin would turn red when we called him that. My biggest regret about, well you know, is that JB will never know his Uncle Justin or his cousin Gus.” “We’ll all have to make sure that JB learns about them as he grows up Tommy.” *** The doorbell rings. “Brian, Taylor I’m glad you could make it today. Well Taylor what did you make this time?” “Molly what makes you so sure that Taylor made these appetizers?” “Oh I don’t know Brian, maybe decades of Justin telling me that you couldn’t boil water.” “I just let him think I couldn’t cook since it made him so happy trying to fatten me up. You should‘ve seen the look on his face the night I ate two bowls of ice cream, not that I ate them out of a bowl.” “I’m not sure I want to know what that comment means Brian. Getting back to my original question, what did you make Taylor?” “Papa’s roll ups, Aunt Molly. They were the first thing Dad ever taught me how to make and I thought it would be appropriate to make them for this meal.” “Well Taylor they were the first thing Justin taught Gus how to make and they were the first thing I ever taught Justin how to make. So someday you teach your children how to make them as well.” “Well Grandma that's something I’ll remember. They’re so easy to make but the hardest part is finding a low fat cream cheese that Granddaddy'll eat. He doesn’t mind the pickle and the sliced meat but he objects to cream cheese on principle and then he says he doesn‘t like the taste of most of the low fat brands.” “Taylor, in case you've forgotten I’m standing right next to you. Don’t talk about me like I’m not here. Why anyone likes pure fat is beyond me though.” “Granddaddy you know I didn’t mean anything and cream cheese isn‘t pure fat.” “Yes I know that Taylor but you’re almost as gullible as your Dad was. If I'd a dime for every time Justin or I pulled his chain and he didn’t catch on I would've had even more money in the bank than I do now.” “Granddaddy you almost made a joke about Dad.” “I did didn’t I? I guess that this dinner was a good idea after all.” *** “Molly everything was wonderful. I haven’t eaten so much in years.” “Isn’t that the point of Thanksgiving Brian, eating too much?” “According to the Taylor family mantra it is. The happiest times for Sunshine, outside of the bedroom anyway, were when he thought I'd eaten a full meal. To be fair there were times that I would've eaten more but I got a perverse sense of fun from frustrating his desire to fatten me up. He never really gave me a good reason for wanting me to be fatter. God I miss Sunshine and his smiles. Tommy why're you choking all of a sudden?” “We all miss him Uncle Brian, we all do. I must've swallowed wrong.” “Everyone. Granddaddy and I were talking earlier about how we needed to remember the stories Papa told me about his life with Granddaddy and Dad. I think this would be a good time for all of us to remember and share stories about Papa and Dad.” “Brian, is that ok with you?” “Yes Jennifer that’s ok with me. I miss Sonnyboy and Sunshine so much but I know that I have to get on with my life. If I don’t then Sunshine will start haunting me until I do.” “You know Brian you're right about that, if you don’t get on with your life my big brother will come back and haunt you, and he’ll haunt the rest of us for good measure for not helping you get on with your life.” “Stan I’m beginning to think that you might have had as much trouble with your Taylor spouse as I had with mine.” “You can say that again Brian. Ouch, Molly pinching me just proves Brian’s point.” “Well as the oldest here I'll go down the path of good memories first. But before I begin I must say, Molly Weatherly you’re much too old to be sticking your tongue out at your husband.” “Papa story or a Dad story Grandma?” “I think that as the oldest I'll tell one of each, Taylor.” *** “When Justin was 4 or 5 I took him to a movie theater for the first time. It was one of the Disney cartoon classics and Justin was mesmerized for the entire movie. Looking back it was more for the artwork than the actual story but at the time I thought it was the story that had captivated him. A few days later he was in his room coloring, even at that age he could draw better than most people, even using crayons. He never just colored like most children but he drew distinct pictures line by line. So when drawing a person he would draw their hair strand by strand and he would use more than one color so that it would look more realistic. I asked him what he was drawing. I didn’t think much about his answer, after all he was just a little boy, at the time but years later I remembered the incident and just had to wonder about how much control we really have over our lives.’ “Well Grandma what was he drawing?” “Tommy don’t be so impatient.” “Sorry Grandma.” “He'd drawn a room with a bed, outside the window were enough details to make it clear that the room was part of a castle. On the bed was a blond boy sound asleep and in the foreground he was adding another much taller person. Justin was taking a great deal of time to make sure that the hair on this person was perfectly colored. I hadn’t known that using 3 different crayons one could make a man’s hair look auburn. ‘Justin who're you drawing?’ ‘My prince who's rescuing me.’ ‘Rescuing you from what honey?’ ‘The evil wizard who put me to sleep.’ I wish I'd kept that picture but Justin drew so many over the years that it became impossible to save them all. That’s the only one I remember with his prince though.” “That's spooky Mom.” “Well at the time I’m sure I just thought that Justin was too young to know that a prince rescued girls not boys. Of course we know how reality turned out and Justin was saved by his Prince.” “I never saved Justin from anything except maybe from being bored to death by going to Dartmouth.” “Whatever you need to believe Brian.” “I always wondered where Justin learned that silliness.” “Whatever Brian whatever.” “I thought that you were going to tell Sunshine and Sonnyboy stories how did I get into the center of the ring?” “Now Brian I always thought that you wanted to be in the center of the ring? OK I’ll let you off of the hook and tell a Gus story.” “Finally.” “From that first time out at the cabin Gus loved to sit in my lap. He would sit there and we would talk about whatever he wanted to discuss about his life. Eventually he got too big to sit in my lap and then he would just lie down and put his head in my lap and we would talk about whatever was on his mind.” “You know Jen, you and Deb were the only people who Gus would get into their laps. He always knew how to act around everyone to put him or her at ease. You and Deb loved holding him and so he would climb into your laps. His grandmother Peterson would've had a fit if he'd gotten into her lap so he never did, not that he was actually around her that much. I remember one time I had to go pick him up at the Peterson’s, for Lindsay, I suppose he was in the first grade, and I found them in the dining room having a formal tea, Gus’ manners couldn’t have been more perfect. Sorry Jen for interrupting your story.” “No problem Brian, in fact the last time I saw Gus before, well you know, he asked me if the family would be upset if he asked someone to come with him to his birthday party. As I stroked his hair I told him that of course no one would mind that he was getting on with his life. But I better get back to my story, before I forget where I was going, and finish it properly. Up till about the second grade Gus’ would tell me how many times he got Daddy to kiss Justin.” “What?” “He would say something like: ‘Grandma I got Daddy to kiss Justee last week, I pretended to watch the lions at the zoo but when I looked back at them Daddy was sneaking a kiss.’ ‘Grandma Jenn last Saturday Uncle Justin and I worked in the yard all morning and we were so tired that we took a nap after lunch. I woke up and saw that Daddy had come home from work so I pretended to still be asleep when he walked into the living room and sure enough he leaned down and kissed Uncle Justin awake.’ ‘Grandma why won’t Daddy kiss Uncle Justin when he thinks I can see them? They love each other shouldn’t they kiss whenever they want even if I’m in the room?’ “I never had an answer for that question but I don’t think he really wanted one he just wanted the two of you to be happy.” “Justin used to get too much amusement from the fact that I couldn’t bring myself to show physical affection with him if I thought Gus was looking. I was just so afraid of what people would think and how that would hurt Gus. I didn’t want to do anything that would make Gus think his Daddy would hurt him, I knew way too much about having a Daddy that hurts his children. Even after Gus had pretty much grown up and knew what was going on I convinced myself that he didn‘t know what Justin and I did in our bedroom. Then one day he let us know that he knew plenty and I thought that I would explode with embarrassment.” “What did you and Papa do Granddaddy?” “Gus’ Sonnyboy this is not the time or place for such a discussion.” “Granddaddy do you want your chain back now or tonight?” “You can all stop laughing at me any minute now.” *** “I first met Gus in the Emergency Room, I was doing a rotation there during my final year of medical school. Gus had fallen off of a horse and Molly'd brought him to the ER for X-rays of his leg. Luckily it wasn’t broken but I think he had me tell him my whole life story before I knew what I was doing. All during this little recital Molly was sitting in the corner trying to blend into the wall.” “Well I knew what the little scamp was up to.” “I often wondered if he set you up on dates routinely.” “Not as often as he would've liked. It was very embarrassing to be set up by an adolescent boy but I could never make that clear to him. Of course you were the last date he made for me since we were married about a year later and I never dated anyone else after that date he set up for us.” “When was this? I don’t remember anything about you having to take Sonnyboy to the ER.” “It was while you and Justin were in Ireland Brian. It didn’t amount to anything so I suppose we never bothered to say anything to anyone parental.” “Anyway I just assumed that Gus was Molly’s younger brother since it wasn’t until months later that the true relationship was explained to me. It was on New Year’s Eve of 2013 when I first met Brian and Justin. The two of you came very late to the party and when I saw you I said to Molly: ‘Molly your Dad's very young.’ ‘What're you talking about Stan my Dad isn’t here and he's older than my mother.’ ‘That man isn’t older than Jennifer.’ ‘He isn’t my father Stan.’ ‘Gus's the spitting image of him.’ ‘Sure since Brian's Gus’ Dad.’ ‘I thought Gus was your brother, I didn’t know you had different fathers. You have the same last name.’ ‘Gus isn’t my brother, we just act like that, technically he would be my nephew. Well we don’t have the same last name I just listed him as Gus Taylor on the hospital forms since I didn’t want to get anyone involved that night.’ ‘You’ve lost me Molly.’ ‘Brian's Gus’ Dad and Brian's my brother-in-law. We weren’t supposed to be horseback riding that day.’ ‘But you don’t have a sister, how can you have a brother-in-law?’ ‘That blond bombshell that Brian's kissing, like there's no tomorrow, is my brother Justin. So Brian's my brother-in-law in spirit if not legally.’ ‘Molly Taylor you're in your last year of nursing school you know better than lying on medical forms.’ ‘I also know the hell there would have been to pay if Melanie had found out that I let Gus talk me into riding those horses. Let’s go meet Justin and Brian.’ Of course once I was introduced to Brian and Justin I forgot about the faked hospital form. That wasn’t the Gus story I was planning on telling though. You could've knocked me over with a feather when I found out that Gus was going to give Molly away at our wedding. Though to be truthful if I hadn’t known that he was only 14 at the time I could've easily believed that he was Molly’s Dad. I mean he really acted like a 40 something giving away his daughter. The toasts that he gave at the various parties and the reception were just like something my Dad would've said. I thought that I would split a gut when he took me aside at the bachelor party and asked me if I truly intended on making Molly happy for the rest of our lives. Then I looked at him and knew that like any father he would skin me alive if I ever made Molly unhappy. Over the years I actually called him Dad on occasion. Taylor you know that if you ever need any fatherly advice you can always talk to me.” “Yes Uncle Stan I know that.” “Molly why did you ask Gus to give you away, I always thought that it was strange that you didn’t ask Justin when your father refused to come to your wedding. That was another reason Justin hated his Dad so much.” “Brian I did ask Justin but he refused to do it since he didn’t want to hurt Dad anymore either.” “What? You’ve lost me completely.” “When I told Dad that I was getting married and that I wanted him to give me away his first question was whether Justin would be at the wedding. I told him that of course my three brothers would be there. He then told me that he couldn’t be part of the wedding since that would make Justin stay away and he couldn’t hurt him anymore than he already had. I tried to talk him out of that belief but he still wasn’t ready to face Justin and explain why he'd acted like such an idiot.” “Justin was continually on my case about opening up and discussing my problems yet he couldn’t do the same with his Dad. I’m glad that they were able to forgive and forget long enough there at the end though. Justin would‘ve gone to the wedding even if your father had given you away.” “We all were happy that they made peace, Justin more than he was willing to admit. I tried to convince Dad that Justin wouldn’t miss my wedding but he wouldn’t budge and insisted that it was better if he stayed away. Justin told me that he wouldn’t give me away or do anything official in the wedding since that would hurt Dad. I thought about asking you but I knew that if Justin wouldn’t do it you wouldn’t either because you wouldn’t do anything to hurt Justin. That left the obvious choice of Gus. Like Stan said he did the perfect imitation of a father. Of course when he tried to give me the ‘talk’ we both just burst out into laughter.” “That sounds like Sonnyboy doing whatever he could to make everyone happy. He had a very successful career of making people happy.” *** “I know that I haven’t been a part of the family for long but I have a Justin story.” “Go ahead Joyce and tell your story.” “Thanks Uncle Brian, when Tom and I found out the sex of our baby we decided on Justin Brian as his name within minutes of learning that we were having a boy. Uncle Justin found out through the family grape vine and evidently it embarrassed him so the next time he came by the apartment he told me that we should name the baby after someone else. Any name but Justin would be a better choice was his basic premise. Then I found out how easy it was to turn Justin Taylor red. ‘Uncle Justin what makes you think we’re naming the baby after you?’ ‘Well my name's Justin and you are naming my first great nephew Justin so what else would I think?’ ‘Maybe that my father’s name is Justin Brian Wackerla.’ Uncle Justin just sputtered and turned the brightest red I’ve ever seen anyone become. He made his apologies and regrets and left before I got the chance to come clean and tell him that my father’s name is really Monty Ray.” “Joyce you're really going to fit into this family. Getting the best of Sunshine didn’t happen very often. I knew him for 40 years and I didn’t manage the feat very often.” “Thank you Uncle Brian, I’ve felt a little guilty that I never got the chance to tell him that we really did name our son after Tom’s favorite Uncles.” “Don’t worry about it Joyce Sunshine never held a grudge against anyone, well except for Craig and that was a special case.” *** “I guess I’ll go next Uncle Brian.” “As long as it isn’t about the time you and Gus caught me in the shower.” “We promised at the time that we'd never tell a soul about what we saw and heard that afternoon.” “Brian I’m sorry but that's just too tempting. What did you see and hear Tommy?” “Now Jennifer you wouldn’t want your grandson to break a solemn oath would you?” “Of course I would, especially since I know it won’t be what we’re all thinking it is.” “You really are Sunshine’s mother, aren’t you?” “You never really thought he became so devious all on his own did you?” “No I suppose not, and Tommy I'll tell the secret so that you don’t have to break your oath. They simply caught me singing in the shower one day when Gus was babysitting Tommy and stopped by the house on their way back to Molly‘s after a day on the town.” “Why would you make them swear an oath not to tell anyone that.” “You’ve never heard Uncle Brian sing have you Dad? It was horrible; we thought someone was being murdered in the shower and it turned out to be Uncle Brian trying to sing the Last Dance.” “Come to think of it I haven’t ever heard you sing anything Brian in all of the years that I’ve known you.” “Well there’s a reason for that Molly, I can’t sing, and after that little event I never even tried to sing again. It’s very embarrassing to have your son and nephew laugh themselves silly at your expense.” “We weren’t laughing at just the singing, well I should say Gus wasn’t laughing at only the singing since I was too young to really know what I was seeing and I was laughing more with Gus than at you Uncle Brian.” “I thought I was in my home alone and that song has romantic memories for me. You all can stop laughing at any time. Tommy why don‘t you tell your story now that everyone has gotten over the image of me singing in the shower.” “OK Uncle Brian but you brought it up so you have no one to blame but yourself.” “I know Tommy and I didn’t think Justin was ever going to quit laughing when I told him the story later that night.” “From the day I was born Gus took me under his wing and was always there when I needed a big brother. I remember a morning about 11 years ago when I woke up in the middle of the night. I thought I'd wet the bed and the thought of that was terrifying since I was 13 years old. Though my underwear was very soggy and sticky it wasn’t urine so I didn’t know what'd happened and I was very afraid that something was wrong with me. I immediately thought of Gus, he would know what had happened and what to do about it” “Why didn’t you come to one of us Tommy?” “Dad you weren’t home, the Army had sent you overseas and I couldn’t talk to Mom about something like that.” “Why not Tommy?” “Mom you were a girl. Besides once I thought about Gus I never thought about anyone else. So I cleaned myself up and went back to bed. The next day I asked Gus to come over and like always he was there for me. I explained what had happened and asked him what was wrong with me. ‘Tommy there's nothing wrong with you. You're just growing up. You just had a wet dream, do you remember what you were dreaming about before you woke up?’ ‘I don’t remember Gus; I never remember my dreams. What happened Gus?’ “You just had a spontaneous orgasm and filled your shorts with your first load of semen.’ ‘Will it happen again?’ ‘Probably but it's nothing to worry about, you're perfectly normal.’ ‘Is there anyway to prevent it from happening again?” ‘Just start jacking off regularly and keep the pressure under control.’ ‘What’s that?’ ‘I suppose it would be easier to just give you the birds and the bees talk Tommy.’ Gus then proceeded to tell me everything I could possibly need to know about sex. If I hadn’t known better I would've thought he was a sex education teacher since he explained everything in a very clear and understandable manner and he answered all of my questions in the same manner. So whenever I had a sex question I would call Gus and he would help me to solve whatever the problem was. I even had to talk to him the night before my wedding to Joyce. He told what he'd gone through on his wedding night and that calmed me down completely. Did any of you know that Gus was a virgin until his wedding night?” “No I didn’t but it doesn’t surprise me since he wanted to be the perfect son and casual sex wouldn’t have fit into his idea of perfection. I often wondered how I managed to have such a perfect son and partner in my life. That September day 40 years ago was the point where my life began to change for the better.” *** “JB has an Uncle Justin story.” “He does, isn’t he very young to tell stories?” “Uncle Brian you can’t pull my chain.” “I always have to try Joyce, it’s a family tradition. Well what does young Mr. Weatherly have to tell us?” “A few days after, well you know, there was a package in the mail addressed to Master Justin Brian Weatherly. Since JB wasn’t even a month old I thought it strange that he would get something in the mail. There wasn’t a note or letter but on the back of the drawing there were a few lines.” “What did Sunshine draw for his great-nephew?” “It’s a family portrait Uncle Brian. Tommy and I with a baby are sitting in the front; behind us are you and Uncle Justin, Gus and Taylor are next to the two of you then Anna and Marlene are next to them. Behind your row are Stan, Molly, and Grandma Jenn. The drawings are perfect there’s no doubt who anyone is. Then above the group were two vaguely visible people I’m assuming are Craig and Katherine.” “Sunshine would have included them in a family portrait. What did he write that impressed JB so much that he’s telling us this tale?” “The note simply said: Follow your heart and you'll be happy in the end. I’m guessing that has something to do with you and his relationship?” “You would be right on that count Joyce. Justin followed his heart from the beginning but it took the intervention of a 2 year old in a sandbox to get me to the point where I could follow my heart. That's very good advice that your Uncle Sunshine gave you JB, always remember it. Well Molly I guess you’re next in line to tell a story.” *** “As Tommy said earlier Gus was there for him when he needed him. The day we brought Tommy home from the hospital we had a party to welcome him into the family. By the end Gus and I were the only ones who weren’t, how do I say this tactfully?” “Drunk we were all drunk.” “Yes thank you Brian. You were all drunk. Gus just couldn’t keep his eyes off of Tommy; he told him that he would be there whenever he needed a big brother. I figured that Gus wasn’t aware of the fact that by the time Tommy was really old enough to know what was going on that Gus would be off in college. But if it was at all physically possible Gus was there for Tommy, Anna too but less so since the two of them never quite bonded like Gus and Tommy did. There were a few times when I and the children went with Stan on his military trips and so Gus couldn’t be there and a few times when Gus simply couldn’t leave State College but other than that he was always there for his little brother and that’s how he thought of Tommy. I often wondered why you or Justin didn’t give Gus a younger sibling since it was obvious to me that he'd wanted one and Tommy filled that role for him.” “Well Justin did try once but it turned out that he was totally sterile and I simply felt that having another child after that would've hurt Justin. Gus never told us that he really wanted a sibling until he was in college.” “Then I’m glad that he had Tommy for his younger brother just like I was glad that I had Gus as my younger brother. Our lives are going to be less than they would have been since we lost Justin and Gus but we have to deal with the cards we were dealt.” *** “I can remember that Dad told me one time that Granddaddy and Papa played Around at night, I thought he meant that they played a card game called Around and I even asked Granddaddy to teach me how to play Around. He taught me how to play Old Maid and War since he said they were better games for a boy my age. But a month or so after Dad and I moved into the house, after Mommy died, I finally figured out what Dad meant when he said that they played Around when I observed them one afternoon engaged in that game.” “What? You never said anything to us did you?” “Of course I didn’t say anything; I didn’t want to make you stop just because I'd seen you playing Around. I’d heard Dad’s stories about having to trick the two of you into kissing when he was in your vicinity and I didn’t want to take the chance that you would stop having fun just because I happened to see the two of you when you didn’t remember that you weren’t alone.” “This sounds interesting Tay, finish the story.” “OK Tommy but to set up the story remember what the back yard of the house looks like, the entire yard is surrounded by a very tall hedge, there's the big tree house tree in the middle of the yard and in the back corners there are two rose beds.“ “I remember that the very first time I ever slept outside was in that tree house. Gus didn’t really want to sleep there, he said he had bad memories about something that happened there but when I insisted he went along with me. He was the perfect big brother in every possible way. Sorry Taylor finish your story.” “Dad had gone out of town for a business trip and I figured that Granddaddy and Papa had forgotten that I would be in the house or they wouldn‘t have done what I‘m about to tell you they did.” “Gus’ Sonnyboy am I going to very embarrassed?” “I don’t know Granddaddy I guess we’ll find out in a few minutes. I'd been at the park most of the afternoon but when I finally came home and went to my room I happened to look out the window. Granddaddy was lying on a towel next to my above ground wading pool, they call them swimming pools but since you can only take two or three strokes before you run into the wall I always thought of it as a wading pool. Anyway Granddaddy was wearing one of his tiny little swimsuits and it looked like he was sound asleep. Papa was watering his rose bushes and he was only wearing one of his boxer type swimsuits. Granddaddy why did Papa always wear those baggy swimsuits?” “The same reason he wore boxers Gus’ Sonnyboy.” “Well what’s the reason?” “They were big enough to have some kind of artwork on them, Sunshine was an artist to the core and always liked to be near artwork even if he had to wear it.” “As I watched Granddaddy reached over and touched the towel beside him; then he stuck his head up, looked around the yard and noticed where Papa was standing. I couldn’t hear anything during this little adventure so I don’t know whether he said anything or not but I don’t think he did since Papa didn’t act like he heard anything. Anyway Granddaddy stood up and then he snuck over to where Papa was watering the roses, he reached out and pulled Papa’s swimsuit down to his knees. When Papa turned around Granddaddy just kissed him on the lips and then started running away. Papa squirted Granddaddy with the hose and then started to chase after him but his swimsuit caused him to trip but instead of pulling them up he just pushed them off and started chasing after Granddaddy. They ran around for a little while and then Granddaddy stopped and let Papa catch him. They started kissing but I could see that Papa was moving his hands down from Granddaddy’s back until he grabbed the waistband of the swimsuit and he pulled it off of Granddaddy, evidently it had snaps on both sides. So I’m staring out the window at my Grandfathers who are both stark naked in the back yard of their house. It was a good thing that the backyard is surrounded by that high hedge since the neighbors would've gotten an eyeful of grandfatherly attributes.” “Gus’ Sonnyboy why do you think Justin spent so much time and effort maintaining that hedge?” “So this wasn’t a one time event.” “Well Taylor from the way your Granddaddy is blushing I would say it wasn’t.” “Jennifer!” “Back to the story, Papa then pinched Granddaddy on the butt and started running away again. Granddaddy chased after him and when he caught up he kissed him on the chest and then he ran away with Papa chasing him. Evidently they were playing kissing tag since every time one caught the other they would kiss some body part and then run away. One time Papa tried to climb up the ladder to the tree house but Granddaddy managed to kiss him on his butt before he got very high up the ladder. Finally they must have gotten tired because when Granddaddy caught up with Papa instead of kissing him and running away again he just picked him up threw him over his shoulder, walked over to the pool and dropped Papa into the water. Then Papa said something to Granddaddy who then moved closer to the pool, then Papa reached out and grabbed Granddaddy by, well the only part of Granddaddy that he could grab and pulled him into the pool. I couldn’t see what they were doing in the pool but pretty soon the water started sloshing out over the rim of the wall. After a few minutes of watching water splash out of the pool I gave up on the show and started reading a book. About a half an hour later I looked out of the window and saw that the two of them were lying on the towels again, both sound asleep. What surprised me was that Granddaddy was lying with his head on Papa’s chest and Papa was holding Granddaddy in his arms. Even though I had watched them run around the yard naked I finally noticed that neither of them had tan lines, my grandfathers obviously sunbathed in the nude. I then knew what Dad meant when he said that Granddaddy and Papa played Around but I also knew that someday I want to be in love with someone as much as Granddaddy and Papa loved each other. Granddaddy I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much.” “Nothing about my love for Justin embarrasses me Taylor. I hope that you find someone to love as much as I loved Sunshine too.” ** * “Well I suppose that it’s my turn to share a memory about our lost loved ones. While there are so many wonderful stories I could tell about Sunshine and Sonnyboy I think I'll tell you what I was planning on announcing at the party or should I say parties back on the, well we all know when. I don’t know if any of you know what was going to happen or not but I will just tell the story like you don’t” “I have to say Brian that you’ve confused me. It was going to be Gus’ birthday party, what other party was going to go on that we don’t know about?” “Well Molly it was going to be a 27th anniversary party for Sunshine and me.” “What the hell are you talking about Brian?” “Let me tell the story and you’ll know Molly. I was planning on informing the family that Justin and I were celebrating the 27th anniversary of our wedding day on Sept 8. That my mother had basically ordered the two of us to get married while we were on that trip to Ireland in ‘13.” “You're going to have to give us more details than that Brian.” “Ok it all started when Gus got my Mom and me back together as mother and son. We never got as close as you and Justin were to your mother but we did manage to become friends before she died. Starting on Saint Patrick’s Day of ‘13 Mom started talking about how she'd always wanted to visit Ireland. She never really pushed but the topic of going to Ireland seemed to crop up every time we were together or spoke on the phone that summer. Jennifer is there some reason you’re trying not to laugh at this story?” “No Brian, I didn’t realize that I was trying not to laugh, go on with the story.” “Somewhere along the line I decided that I would take Mom to Ireland for a vacation and of course there was no way I was going to leave Sunshine behind for two weeks. I remember Gus wasn’t overly happy that we wouldn’t let him go with us since school had started but Justin promised to take lots of pictures and to bring him back plenty of souvenirs. We were in Ireland for two weeks and I think we must've seen everything worth seeing and to be honest I had a wonderful time. I would've had a wonderful time if I had to spend 2 weeks locked in a one-room shack as long as Justin was locked in that shack with me but I also had a great time with Mom showing her the sights of our ancestral home. Of course Justin knew more about everything than either of us. There was one little item about Ireland that Sunshine missed but that my Mom didn’t. Jennifer you’re going to explode if you don’t let the laughter out.” “Brian I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Like I believe that Sunshine’s Mom. We were scheduled to fly out of Shannon Airport on the 9th of September but at supper on the 7th my Mother told us: ‘Brian, Justin I have arranged for the two of you to be married tomorrow in a simple ceremony on a lovely hillside just outside of town.’ ‘What?’ We both exclaimed. ‘I found out that the Republic of Ireland has legalized civil marriages of gay people. Since it has become obvious to me that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania isn’t going to do the same before I die I decided that you should get married in Ireland while we’re here. I’m also aware of the significance of tomorrow’s date. Now while I truly believe that the two of you are married in the eyes of God it certainly won’t hurt to be married in the eyes of the government. Once Pennsylvania finally legalizes gay marriage you’ll be able to have tomorrow’s ceremony recognized back home. That's if you decide to do so when you can. There’s no reason for you to argue about this, you’ll be married tomorrow as a last gift to me before I die. Since it won’t mean anything back home you can just think of it as what it is; a gift to an old woman.’ ‘Mom this is unbelievable, how could you possibly believe we would go along with something like this.’ ‘Well darling I knew that if I asked you would say no. Since you have no say in it you have to go along with it.’ ‘Mom.’ ‘Brian she has us in a corner so we just as well go along with it. She’s right it really will be meaningless but if it gives her pleasure what harm can it do? We’ve been a couple for over 10 years now I don’t think a coerced wedding is going to hurt our relationship. Besides can you imagine how the gang will react when they find out that you and I are married? Mikey’s head will explode when he gets the news.’ ‘I don’t plan on telling anyone about being forced to get married by my mother. Justin you get too much pleasure picking on Mikey.’ ‘Well it's better than a shotgun marriage because you got me pregnant. Sorry Joan. I don’t mind Michael Brian but Mikey just rubs me wrong in so many different ways.’ ‘Don’t worry about it Justin. So you two will go along with my plan?’ ‘I will, but I suppose I better do the right thing.’ ‘Brian Shawn Kinney will you marry me tomorrow in a simple ceremony on a lovely hillside here in the Republic of Ireland?’ ‘Justin Craig Taylor have I ever said no to you when it really mattered?’ So the next morning on a lovely hillside in the Republic of Ireland Justin and I tied the knot. We hadn’t brought any formal clothing with us and so I told Justin that we would have to go shopping and buy proper outfits for a wedding. I figured if I was going to get married then I was going to do it right but Justin said no shopping we would wear what we planned on wearing the next day and that we wouldn’t tell a soul at home that we'd gotten married. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing since I always thought that Justin would want to make the most of such an event, not that he would’ve had any reason to think that I would ever ask him to marry me. Of course I didn’t ask him he asked me but that’s just quibbling. When I tried to change his mind he just told me to forget about it we were doing it to make my mother happy, that he didn’t need any kind of paper to prove how much I loved him and that we wouldn’t tell anyone back home as long as it didn’t mean anything legally in the States. I didn’t argue with him because I could tell by his tone that I wouldn’t win the argument and he was in the process of taking my clothes off while he was telling me that our wedding was just a gift to my mother. I tried to argue that at the least I would buy some rings but he said no that he didn’t need a ring to remind him how much he loved me. He then proceeded to prove to me that he did love me by using his body and mine to bring each other to a magical glow of release.” “That's a fancy way of saying he had sex with you isn’t it Uncle Brian?” “Yes Tommy that’s what happened and like pretty much every time he pleasured me in that way I was sound asleep 10 minutes later.” “How did you keep something like that a secret for all of these years?” “Molly, I always thought that Justin would tell the family and so as long as he didn’t say anything I wasn’t going to mention it and after a while it kind of went to the back burner. Of course both of us slipped over the years and would call each other Kinney-Taylor but no one ever caught it. OK Jennifer it’s obvious that you knew all along, I always thought that Justin probably told someone.” “No Brian Justin never said a word to me and I did go fishing a time or two.” “If he didn’t say anything how would you know to go fishing?” “Brian Shawn Kinney did you think that your mother came up with the idea while she was on a vacation? The two of us planned it almost from the day that you and Justin introduced us. It surprised me that Justin never spilled the beans but considering that Joan got sick and died so soon after you returned from Ireland it wasn’t something I wanted to bring up. She did describe the wedding ceremony in complete detail though. How handsome the two of you were, how dignified you looked even though you were dressed in hiking clothes, how the sunlight reflected off of Justin’s hair, the joy that she saw in the eyes of both of you. She thought that Justin would burst with happiness when you produced his wedding ring for the ceremony. He never wore the ring as far as I know though.” “It was the only ring that the gift shop in our hotel had that would fit Justin and it was a souvenir ring with a four-leaf clover. It wasn’t the sort of ring that anyone would wear on a daily basis. Even though he told me not to buy a ring I knew that I had to get a ring of some kind and I couldn’t find a cigar with a band at the gift shop so I settled for the souvenir ring. He only wore it the day we were married and then every September 8th he would get it out of his desk drawer in the morning and put it back that night. He never said a word about our marriage except for wearing his ring on our anniversary but that told me all I ever needed to know. He was wearing the ring when, well you know and it’s in the urn with his ashes.” “After 27 years why were you going to tell the family about your wedding Uncle Brian?” “Well Tommy, because this would've been the first anniversary where we were legally married here in the States. On July 1 gay marriage finally became legal in the United States and as a part of that legalization any marriages legally made in other countries could be recognized here by registering them at the local courthouse. I kept expecting Justin to bring this fact up but he never did so I decided that I would surprise him and bite the bullet and get our wedding recognized by the government of the United States of America. I figured that he didn’t bring it up because he thought I didn’t care. While the law went into effect on July 1 that was a Sunday so the 2nd was the earliest that anything could be recognized since the courthouses aren’t open on the weekend. Even ceremonies performed on that Sunday weren’t official until they were registered at the courthouse. As a gift to Sunshine I decided that we would be the first registered gay marriage in Allegheny County and Pennsylvania if possible.” “A gift for Justin, you had no desire to be the first gay couple legally married in Pittsburgh?” “Of course not Molly, you’ve known me long enough to know that I don’t care about that sort of thing.” “Tell yourself what you have to tell yourself Brian and we’ll just smile.” “Be nice Molly Brian is a guest in your home.” “Mom you have the biggest smile of anyone here.” “So, I want to hear the rest of Brian’s story.” “On Monday the 2nd I woke Justin up in our customary manner but just a little earlier than usual.” “Customary manner, what does that mean Uncle Brian?” “Do you really want the details Tommy?” “No I think I’ll leave it to my imagination.” “Anyway once Justin was fully awake he wanted to know why I had awakened him at 6 AM: ‘Brian I always like the way you wake me up but why in hell are we up this early in the morning? Do we have an early meeting I’ve forgotten about?’ ‘Yes, we have to be at the Allegheny Courthouse by 8 so that we won’t have to wait in line too long once they open up for the day at 9.’ ‘Why in the world do we have to be at the Courthouse?’ ‘To register our wedding so that you're finally a honest man.’ ‘What the fuck do you mean by that?’ ‘Gay marriage is finally legal in the States so I want to register our Irish wedding so that you can finally tell the family.’ ‘What makes you think I want to tell the family that your mother forced us to get married and what the hell do you mean make me an honest man?’ ‘It’s a folk saying Sunshine.’ ‘I know that Brian but we don’t have to register our wedding to be a proper couple, we’ve been a couple for almost 40 years we don’t need to do anything more than we’ve done in the past.’ ‘Yes we do, we’re going to go to the Courthouse and register our wedding and we’re going to be the first registered gay marriage in Allegheny County so get your bubble butted self into the shower and get cleaned up, then get dressed for an activity filled day.’ ‘Aren’t we going to work?’ ‘We aren’t going to work on our Wedding Day. We’re going to register our wedding then we’re going to have a one-day honeymoon. Justin Craig Taylor don’t look at me like I’ve lost my mind. We’re going to have a wonderful day if it kills me.’ ‘Well are you going to join me in the shower?’ ‘No, since I know what you would do if I did and we don’t have time for that, you have to get cleaned up and dressed so that we can be at the Court House in order to be first in line. I promise you that we’ll have plenty of sex before our honeymoon is over.’ ‘Why do we have to be first?’ ‘My wedding gift to you is to be the first registered gay marriage in Allegheny County if not Pennsylvania and that's what you are getting no matter what you say.’ ‘OK Brian I'll do what you want but I want you to admit to yourself that we are doing this for you not me.’ ‘Sure Sunshine like I believe that you don’t want the ridiculously romantic situation of being the first registered gay marriage in Allegheny County?’ ‘You’ve figured me out Brian, I do have one demand and then I promise I’ll go along with anything you want to do today at least anything reasonable.’ ‘What demand? What do you mean anything reasonable, anything I suggest is reasonable.’ ‘We don’t tell anyone about this until our anniversary. We can have a big party for Gus’ birthday and our Anniversary and tell everyone then. I’ll be the judge of reasonable today.’ ‘Sounds Ok to me Sunshine but get your ass into the shower and don’t take too long we’re already behind schedule for the day. Like anything I would suggest is unreasonable.’ ‘Brian come into the shower with me and tell me again that we’re doing this for me. I love it when you mumble when you don’t want me to hear yet you do it in your normal voice.’ ‘Sunshine we don’t have time for doing what's on your mind and everyone thinks I’m the sex hound. I don’t mumble, I say what I want to say when I want to say it.’ ‘You win Brian; I’ll be ready to go in 15 minutes. If you say so Brian, if you say so.’ 16 minutes later Justin was ready to go. We ate breakfast at a café on the way to the Court House and we pulled in the parking lot at exactly 8 AM. We arrived at the correct office at 20 minutes after 8 and were the first in line, in fact we were the only couple there so I guess I did over react some in wanting to be early to beat the rush. Justin didn’t say a word he just gave me one of his sunshine smiles and then one of his killer kisses. While the Court House opened for business at 9 the woman in charge of registering weddings was running behind schedule and didn’t actually get our wedding registered until 9:08.” “What difference did that make Uncle Brian you were still the first registered gay wedding in Allegheny County.” “That's true Tommy, we were the first in Allegheny County and the first in Pennsylvania as well.” “How do you know that Brian?” “I had an investigator look into it for me. That was going to be part of my anniversary gift to Sunshine at the party. The investigator found out that not only were we the first registered gay wedding in Pennsylvania but the first registered in the Eastern Time Zone States. Evidently registering gay weddings wasn’t as important to some people as it was to Sunshine and me. But since we weren’t registered until 9:08 we were only the 2nd gay wedding registered in the United States. I knew when it happened that it was a mistake to admit the Maritime Provinces as the state of Acadia when Canada fell apart with the secession of Quebec back in ‘33.” “What the hell do you mean by that Brian?” “Well Stan if Acadia hadn’t been admitted to the United States then Justin and I would have been the first gay couple legally married in the United States.” “I still don’t follow you Brian.” “Acadia is on Atlantic time Stan so they're an hour earlier than Pittsburgh. A couple of guys in Halifax decided that they should get married when they saw a sign in the Court House there notifying the public that Gay Marriage was now legal and they were declared Husband and Husband at 10:04 AM Atlantic time which is 9:04 Eastern Time. According to my investigator they just decided on the spur of the moment to get married and had no idea that they would be the first legal gay marriage in the United States. Here I could have given Sunshine a once in a lifetime honor and wasn’t able to because a county bureaucrat couldn’t get her office open on time.” “Granddaddy you really don’t think Papa would have cared about being first in the country?” “No Taylor I don’t Justin would've been just as happy never getting the wedding registered as he would've been if we had been the first. I just wanted to give him something for the multitude of things he gave me over the years. The most important being the ability to love and be loved.” “Now that the melodrama is over what happened on your Honeymoon day?” “How detailed do I dare be about that Jennifer? We do have young ears in this room and let me tell you it was an X rated day. Considering that I was 69 and Justin was 57 it was amazing what we accomplished.” “JB is sound asleep and probably wouldn’t understand anything anyway and I’m reasonably sure that Taylor won’t be emotionally harmed by hearing about the physical love of his grandfathers. You probably can tell us anything you feel comfortable with. Now I don’t need any specific descriptions of what the two of you did but I can stand hearing about the love you and Justin shared. While I was late to get on the Brian Kinney bandwagon I never regretted it once I did. You made Justin a very happy man over the years that you were a couple.” “Well Taylor what do you say, how much do you want to hear? Not nearly as happy as he made me.” “Granddaddy it’s your story, tell us whatever you want to tell us. Papa and I had some deep discussions about sex so I don’t think I’ll hear anything I’ve never heard before.” “I’m not sure I want to know what that means Taylor but here goes nothing. After getting our wedding officially recognized by the United States we proceeded to go to every place that had some degree of importance to us here in Pittsburgh. Now I planned on having sex at every site but Justin refused to do anything at some places and only necking at some of the others. When he refused my advances at the local swimming pool he said he had to ration the sexual activity because he didn’t want me to drop dead on our honeymoon. He could be such a kidder when the mood hit him. When we got to the petting zoo.” “Brian you didn’t have sex at the petting zoo?” “No Molly we didn’t have sex at the petting zoo, I would've but Justin refused saying that it wasn’t the place for such an adult activity then he gave me a kiss that curled my hair. When Justin wanted to he could make a kiss more sexual than any act of intercourse. I know that times have changed during my life but I can remember a time when we would’ve been arrested for kissing in public but the only thing that happened after that mind blowing kiss was a woman walked over to us and asked how Gus was doing. Evidently she had gone to school with Gus and remembered us from some school function that we'd chaperoned. No outrage that 2 queers had kissed in public just a question about our son.” “That’s good thing isn’t it Uncle Brian?” “Yes Tommy but it simply isn’t what I expect even though I know how much better the world treats gays than it did in the past. Anyway we didn’t have sex at the petting zoo but I did blow him at the Big Q. He returned the favor at the Diner. Woody’s has gone down hill since the last time I was there but we did manage a flip flop in the bathroom.” “A what? Don’t explain I really don’t want to know do I Uncle Brian?” “Probably not Joyce, probably not. Next on our itinerary was Babylon.” “Babylon, Uncle Brian didn’t you know?” “No Tommy we didn’t know. Who would have ever guessed that Babylon, that infamous gay nightclub with the most active backroom in Pittsburgh’s history, would become an antique mall? When did Buffy the Vampire Slayer memorabilia become antiques?” “What did you do in an antique mall?” “Well Molly what do you think? We got out of that place as quickly as humanly possible though Sunshine kept his hand on my bottom the entire time. Of course Sunshine‘s hand on my butt caused a physical reaction that made it somewhat difficult to walk back to the car. So we drove to the Jeep dealership and Justin gave me a hand job in the newest Jeep on the lot. Luckily the salesmen were all busy and no one bothered us until after we had straightened up our clothing.” “That couldn’t have been your last stop though.” “No it wasn’t there was one more stop though it didn’t turn out like I planned either.” “Well don’t keep us in suspense Brian?” “We went back to my old Loft on Tremont, we had so many wonderful nights there that I figured it would be the perfect place to end our Honeymoon.” “Brian you really haven’t kept up with the changes in Pittsburgh have you?” “Yes Stan I haven’t kept up with all of the changes, it was surprising to get there and find a park instead of my old building. I kind of expected Justin to call it quits but he just dragged me by a belt loop into the park lighting the whole place with one of his smiles. Then he pulled my clothes off and then he stripped provocatively and then he pushed me down on the ground and proceeded to make love to me in the way that only Justin could do it. It was only after we were done and were gathering our clothes that I realized that we had just made passionate love in a sandbox.” “Brian he didn’t?” “Yes your wonderful son fucked me silly in a sandbox. You know I seriously considered having a sandbox installed under the tree house but Sunshine talked me out of it. After our little session at the Park Justin drove us home and believe it or not we just went to bed and fell asleep. Thus ended our Honeymoon Day.” “Granddaddy we'll never forget Papa and Dad but we have to use our memories to help us go on with our lives.” “I know Taylor but it's so hard sometimes when he isn’t lying beside me at night. Taylor I think that next summer, if you want to, we will visit all of our far flung relatives.” “Sounds great to me Granddaddy, what relatives are we going to see?” “I suppose we could start with Joshua and Markus in Nebraska, then drop down to Lubbock to see Claire. Then we could go to California to see your grandparents, then up to Alaska and hook up with the guncles then finish up in Halifax with Daniel and Julie.” “We can get more memories while we visit everyone cant’ we Granddaddy?” “Yes Taylor that will be a benefit of the trip but the main reason will simply to see family members that we haven’t seen often enough. Jennifer, Molly we‘ve had a wonderful time today and we’ll have to make sure that we continue with these family dinners but Taylor and I better hit the road so that we can meet up with the guys at Emmett‘s or I'll never hear the end of it from my best friend in all the world.” “Granddaddy it isn’t nice to pick on Michael even if it's the easiest thing in the world to do.” “I know Taylor but some habits are very hard to break and Mikey wouldn’t know what to do with himself if I didn’t pick on him at least some of the time.”