"ignore the story. see the soul. remember to love. you will never regret it" --- Seane Corn

"ignore the story. see the soul. remember to love. you will never regret it" --- Seane Corn
it's a jungle out there

Thursday, October 21, 2010

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?

14 comments:

  1. That boy needs a blog. It's cathartic. Alek, sweet boy, there are wonderful people in the world who would love to hear what you have to say. Blogland makes me tear up on a regular basis. Passion for life and compassion for those in it are not exclusive to any one gender. Everybody has a story, please tell us yours!

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  2. I love him. It's the language, man.

    Love you, too!

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  3. Go nephew -- or keep going. Tell your story.

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  4. Dude needs to keep writing. Whether he shares it or not... (though I'd love to read).

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  5. We need your story, Nephew Alek. Be our eyes and heart in the far-away world.
    Do you know how many aunties you have who would love you?

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  6. you need a blog. we need to hear more.

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  7. Wow.

    Well, duh. The boy can write, has brains, has balls, has a heart, AND has something to write about. Well, duh.

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  8. Oh my yes, this young man must continue to share his life and tell his stories. Don't you wish our moms and aunts and grandmothers had blogs so we could have gotten to know them?

    I think it would have saved me more than a few hundred dollars worth of therapy.

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  9. Wow, thanks for sharing this. Oh yeah, for sure. I would love to read his blog. LOVED this bit of writing. Got sucked right in. More more!!!!
    My brother Justin lives in Vietnam, your newphew should look my brother up. He loves to meet new people, show them around. www.justinmott.com I'm sure his email is on there.

    Isn't it amazing how blog can change relationships so fast, open up new worlds?

    Your nephew sounds amazing and brave and wonderful. I'm so glad he writes and reads you.
    Wow.

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  10. I'm not sure. Clearly, he's a writer. Clearly he has tales to tell. The blog is the perfect medium for some of us but not all of us. I used to know a guy who collected second novels, because, as he quite rightly said, "Everyone has a first novel. Storytellers have second novels, and third and fourth...." I think he needs time to see himself as a writer or a storyteller or a poet or a songwriter...At his age, perhaps the form matters less than the work itself.

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  11. Go nephew of Michelle's! keep traveling and getting to know the world, it is a great place. And maybe your aunt who is indeed a kick-ass writer, will let you share her blog when you feel like posting. you've got an audience already. Enjoy the ride in China...

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so... wadaya think?

Your fairy is called Columbine Icedancer
She is a bone chilling bringer of justice for the vulnerable.
She lives in mushroom fields and quiet meadows.
She is only seen when the bees swarm and the crickets chirrup.
She wears lilac and purple like columbine flowers. She has icy blue butterfly wings.