must be in the genes

So earlier this year, my 25 year old nephew took off alone to Asia.

He had a very sketchy itinerary if you could even call it that.

Starting Somewhere in China crashing on someone's couch.

Then maybe Japan and Hong Kong and India and Thailand. Or something.

For a year or so. Maybe. He was just gonna wing it.

It was less than a month into his journey that my mom, his Grums, started dying for real.

He got a gazillion dollar flight out of Somewhere in China within 72 hours.

He is her first grandchild.

I think he stayed here for 2 weeks after the funeral. Then took off again.

The kid has cojones. Just the thought scares the shit out of me.

His mom, my sister Melanie, says thank god for skype

Sister-Mom Melanie had introduced him to Just Eat It a while back.

I don't remember when.

I thought it would be great for him to start his own blog about his travels.

Apparently he's intimidated by MY writing silly boy but is keeping a journal instead.

He emails his journal entries to Sister-Mom Melanie in case his laptop gets lost or stolen.

On a Slow Boat to China.

“What's on your mind?” Facebook stares me in the face. What's on my mind? My aunt Michelle. She has a blog. Aside from the obvious, “who doesn't?” hers is quite amazing. And no, I don't say that because we are related... Prior to the death of my grandmother, I didn't know my family. Remember when you were a little kid and everyone was supposed to protect you and you don't know all the bad shit around you? Well, I still don't know enough of the shit about the family to say I know them. I see people for the holidays, but I couldn't tell you the first thing about them. Because of Michelle's blog, my mother has decided to share herself more with me, as a person, not a parent. I gotta say, I really like her. She's smart and funny, and has a wonderfully terrible sense of humor. I know where I get mine from. It's nice to know. It's nice to know where you come from and the people around you. Michelle is the only relative that has shared herself with me, and that is only through this anonymous forum. I'm not sure she knows I read it. Sometimes I feel like that side of the family that the rest never talks to... I think it's just that, no one in our family really communicates well with each other... or at least, not out loud. She got a good review from some system that reviews blogs and rips them apart. In reading her most recent post, including the review, I actually shed a tear. The last two times that happened? My stepmothers mother died, the first of 7 deaths in a row... One per month. Before that, a night consisting of two bottles of scotch and the overwhelming feeling to talk to SOMEONE regarding the constant need to kill myself . People with penises don't cry. I get it. Fuck you.

Reprinted with permission from Nephew Alek and Sister-Mom Melanie

I think he has a story to tell. What do you think?