Unexpected Surprise

I would say one of the small pleasures in life is a fun mail day, wouldn't you?  When I see a letter or card with a handwritten address, I know it's something special.  I've never gotten a handwritten letter from the IRS when it's tax time saying, "Hi there, long time no see ~  The kids have passed around a nasty head cold and the wife got a facelift, but just wanted to remind you that your taxes are due, you goose.  All my love to Scott and the kids.  Sincerely, Uncle Sam."  Nope, never got one.  

The other day my husband got the mail and the poor thing never gets fun mail so he took out what he needed and tossed the rest on the kitchen table.  Later on, I saw a letter addressed to me and said, "Hey, you didn't tell me I got fun mail," and he said, "Oh yeah, you got something in the mail."  Uh huh.  I noticed it was from my nephew, Tim, who is 15 and is a freshman in high school.  I just had to share this letter, which will go down for me as the finest letter in the history of letterdom (you can click to enlarge it - I think):

Suffice it to say, I didn't realize I'd need a box of Kleenex next to me.  Scott and I are Tim's godparents and Scott was Tim's sponsor in Confirmation, so getting this from him was not only special but a complete surprise.  I called him up the next day after I'd regained a certain amount of composure, and he was like, "Hi, Aunt Beth," and I told him how sweet the letter was and if I die a multi-millionaire I'd put him in the will and leave him at least $10, and it just meant so much to me, and on and on.  All he kept saying was, "Uh huh...uh huh...OK, I'll talk to you later."  I'm like, "What are you doing!?" and he said, "Watching the football game with my cousin Jeremy."  OK, that's boring.

The little funny part of the letter was this part:

I feel like that may need a bit of explanation.  When my kids were younger, I babysat my nephews and a couple of close friends' children.  As they grew up, Tim was the youngest, and was the only one I had to pick up from school.  By then my kids were in high school and driving themselves.  So MAYBE once or a few times, I got a call from Tim or the school saying to come pick him up.  My nephews and my kids all went to the same school, so I'd been going up there for years.  When the phone rang, I'd hear, "Hi Beth, it's Sister Joan (the secretary - not to be confused with Sister Joan the principal, although she has called, too)" and as soon as I heard her voice, I knew.  EEEEK!!!!  

And there may have been one time when he was in a car seat and I dropped the kids off at school and got out in the parking lot to stand next to the car as they walked in (like every mom did), and one of them hit the lock button on accident and Tim was in his carseat...locked in my minivan...with it running.  I was standing right there!  Scott had to drive 20 minutes home from work to open the car, but he's pretty easy-going and didn't seem to mind ~ only one of us is allowed to freak out at a time, and as usual it wasn't him.  I kept talking to Tim and waving and he'd just laugh and wave back.  Not my proudest moment.  Every parent driving by, "Everything OK?" Me, "Oh yeah, we just locked him in a running car."  Them, "Oh no, can I help?"  Me, "Sure, go get me a doughnut."  

The school closed a few years ago and so the students went to a different school down the road and Tim was now old enough to stay home alone and was in a carpool.  Well one day the grandparents picked up the kids (of the carpool family) and they figured Tim had gotten another ride.  Nope.  I got a call from my brother (or sister-in-law, I don't remember) asking if I could go get Tim and explained the situation.  When I got there, I told him, "Aww, Tim, isn't this special, it reminds me of when I used to forget you at the other school."  At least he laughed and he's not traumatized from it.  I don't think.  

The best part is that when I'm sad or feel under-appreciated, I can get out this note and remember, even if it was for a class assignment, I was somebody's hero in their mind, even if it was just that day.  This, I won't forget.