My Nieces and Nephews

Well, I am an uncle again. Macy Ann was born 6 days ago, she is the only one of my sisters kids I did not get to see at the hospital. I am currently in southern Louisiana helping my grandfather out after his stroke. Her being born got me thinking how much I love being an uncle, it's the greatest job on earth.

Looking back at all the memories I have I chose my favorite memory from each to share with you.

Jacob is my oldest nephew. He is almost 17 and I could not possibly be prouder of him. When he was about 3 I was eating some extremely hot "Cajun" style potato chips and he kept asking for some. Finally my sister Jennifer said just give him one, so I did. His reaction is one I will never forget as long as I live. He came back for another one but asked me to "blow on it". He knew it was too hot, but he did not understand why.

Maddie is my oldest niece. I gave her the name of "Possum" the day she was born, yes, I know it's not spelled like that. She is 14 and has a boyfriend. I like Austin, but I still hate that she has a boyfriend. He has been warned that is he feels like touching or kissing my beloved niece that uncle Bobby will gladly go to prison after taking care of him. My favorite memory of Possum is an easy choice. When she first came home from the hospital she was very sick, my sister had not slept for 2 or 3 days so I went over and rocked Possum in a chair all night long so Jennifer could get some sleep. Growing up Possum was always uncle Bobby's girl, I truly believe it's because I held her all night when she was first born.

DeLaney is my second youngest niece. I gave her the name of "Little Britches" when she was first born. She will be 13 soon. Most of you know that I have lived in Louisiana before. When grandma was sick I moved here to help care for her. The day when I moved back to Iowa in 2003 Jennifer brought all the kids to see me. When Little Britches walked in I squatted down so she could come give me a hug. She ran across the room with her arms open and hit me so hard I fell over backwards. She then went and told my sister "I tackled him like a touchdown".

Jesse Ray is my youngest nephew. I named him "Cowboy". He is a 3 and a half year old tornado of energy. My greatest memory of him was the day he ran into the house and came straight into my room. He gave me a hug and said "I love you uncle Bobby". Then he was off running somewhere else. It was the first time he ever told me that and it meant the world to me.

Travis Jr. is my newest nephew. He is my brother in law's son from a previous marriage and that makes him my nephew. The boy is 13 and makes me look like a dwarf, he's a giant. He is a fine athlete in any sport he chooses and I am very proud of him for that. Basketball, wrestling, or football he is great at all of them. He can go far in life on his sports ability alone. I will be watching every step of the way.


Macy Ann is my newest niece. Sadly, I have no memories of her because I have never met her. I will someday though, creating memories with my nieces and nephews is the greatest part of my life. I love them all more than they know. I hope someday when I am gone they can look back and think fondly of Uncle Bobby. I have uncles that I hardly know and if I died today it would not affect their life in the least little bit. It would be nothing more than a phone call in a few weeks saying "did you hear the Bobby died"? The answer would probably be "Bobby who"? I did not want me relationship with my nieces and nephews to be like that. I have made it my goal to be am important fixture in their lives, I think I have succeeded in doing that.

To any of my nieces and nephews that may read this remember that I love you very much even though I am not there. Not a day goes by when I don't think about you all.

Love,

Uncle Bobby