I think I am a cool uncle.
And for me, part of being a cool uncle is remaining connected with my nephews. My oldest one is named Franz. Oddly enough, his brother is named Hans. Together they remain locked in time as an homage to mid-80's late night comedy. I will speak more about them another day, and how they acted as surrogate brothers to my son as I nearly drown in my initiation to the world of single parenting.
Let's talk about Franz. In fact we have talked about him before, and how he just got a full ride to NIU. And when you talk of Franz, you need to talk about his friend Marcus.
Marcus is an interesting character. I know him best as a showman. He is the guy who gets the hook role in the school play. He is the guy who is always on stage, always ready to perform. Put him in a costume and he is good to go. I like Marcus. I also happen to be friends with him on Facebook.
Since I am over 20 years his senior, I try to remain in the background, not spoiling his social media vibe. Very occasionally, though, I feel the need to step in and take the role of older and wiser mentor. Yesterday was one of those times, and as I think back on it, I believe the advice I gave him is something we should be teaching all of our teenagers.
His status post yesterday was, "Sometimes life sucks." Was it bad grades, stuck up girls, a traffic ticket, inappropriate body function resulting in an embarrassing encounter with stuck up girls? Who cares? Well, actually, I cared, and was very curious, but it would have been inappropriate for me to ask. Instead, I stepped up to the mound and did my best to throw him one right over the plate.
My comment, the response to his, "Sometimes life sucks" post, was, "nest part of that statement is sometimes." (I misspelled best - the b is next to the n - nest is where a bird lives - spell checker didn't get it)
Honestly, sometimes life does suck. Sorry teens, it's true. Life is often defined by its sucking moments. Life can also be defined by the way it chains together sucking moments into one large year of moments that suck. Suckity-suck-suck! And after the sucking is over, life shows you how wonderful it is. The key is not focusing on the past, on the moment where su met ck. Head up, keep walking, and put the suck in your rear view mirror. Life is a pendulum. It swings back and forth.
Hopefully Marcus will think back on that simple response I gave him. Hopefully he will pass it onto his friends, parents, children, and such. Life does suck, sometimes. Then the sun comes out, fate takes your hand, and everything is okay.
I sure hope he wasn't talking about something pedestrian like the cafeteria being out of tater tots.
