Birthdays ... Gotta LUV 'em V4.0

First off, my apologies to the FAM about the tardiness of this post. I was doing so well with keeping on track, but the move to Guelph and selling the homestead occupied so many of the day's minutes it resulted in a neglect of duty. As I previously wrote, February is a busy birthday month, closely followed by March, but June/July's celebrations are outmatched when it comes to focus! There are 9 people in my extended FAM from mid June to mid July, with my sister-in-law Cheryl Porter and cousin Chris Hopkins on June 18th, my cousin Warren Dean on June 19th, my brother Dave on June 20th, the remembrance of my Papa, Jack Keachie, on June 21st, my new cousin-in-law Alyssa Hopkins on June 28th, my SIL Jenn Porter on June 30th, my SIL Kate Porter on July 2nd, my niece-in-law Krista Sarazin (Foster) is July 13th and my nephew Marcus Porter is July 24th.

My SIL Cheryl, quite frankly, is a saint. Truth be told, all of the partners of the Porter boys are saints because we're all acquired tastes, to say the least. Cheryl is in my top 5 as one of the kindest, caring people I know, and she has the patience of Job ... if you know my brother Dave, you'll be nodding your head right now. She is a wonderful mother having raised two awesome, smart, talented kids, and she has spread her love wide by welcoming first a Chinese international student, Erin, into her home for 4 years, soon to be followed up with a German International student arriving in September. Although naturally quiet, when she does wish to interject into the conversation it is often insightful and intelligent. Oh, and she's also a dedicated mom to her Uber love-hungry fur baby Venus.

My cousin Chris recently became a father for the first time with the birth of his daughter Marielle.  After Chris married a sweetheart of a lady Alyssa 3 years ago, his life was flipped upside down, and Marielle won't make it any less exciting. In this day and age of social media, they've shared some gorgeous photos of Marielle and she certainly takes after the Hopkins side of the family ... so far. Chris is my aunt Faulene's (my dad's sister) oldest, and it's frightening to see how much he's like my brother Dave, making the fact that Dave is Chris' god father rather spooky. I hate to admit it, but I don't know my cousin very well, but I will tell you that what I do recognize in him are the best qualities of his mom ... compassion, caring, intelligence and wit. I'm sure Alyssa already knows, but in case it's escaped her notice, she chose very well indeed. The only thing that makes all of this better is that Alyssa celebrated Motherhood with a birthday in late June, meaning their FAM has a big birthday stretch since Marielle's birthday is May 26th. Pretty Cool!

My cousin Warren is my Aunt Merle's (my mom's sister) oldest. As the senior member of a gaggle of kiddies that spent their formative years together testing the their mother's boundaries, siblings Bryan + Margot, plus my brothers Dave, Rob and Mike and I challenged the two sister's patience despite deciding to raise 7 little ones wagering it would be easier if it was a joint effort. Some of you may recall Merle because I recently wrote about her passing (CLICK). Growing up in the same town, spending days together in the pool or at Wasaga or in a park, and teasing the heck out of each other, we became pretty close. Naturally, as we set our sights on the teenage years, we spent less time together, but I'm happy to say the path converged as we all had children of our own. Warren is a chemist by trade, but spent a great many years as a brewing specialist with Molson's, a dream job that came about thanks to the co-op program at Waterloo U. He's also the owner of the most eclectic tastes of the hoard of 7, being an avid outdoorsman and Scout Leader, a gardener, a musician (guitar), and an athlete (rugby!). He is the possessor of a great sense of humour, a wonderful "glass is half full" attitude and kindness that knows no bounds. 

I've written about my brother Dave a few times in the past (CLICK) so I won't rehash the details, but I will say that besides being my 54 year old brother, and the mandatory sibling love that comes with that, he is easily one of the most intelligent and tech savy of the 4 boys, in addition to being the possessor of an acerbic wit, a huge recall of factoids, and the heart/mind of a tinkerer. He is the one that followed our father into the service of Rotary, volunteering on their Executive both locally and regionally for a number of years. If all of that wasn't enough, he's now a Vlogger on YouTube!
I've said it before, but it bears repeating, he's an amazing dude!

June 21st will forever be a day of remembrance in our family as we reminisce about the great times spent with our Papa, Jack Keachie, who was born in 1898. Papa was my mom's father and I have many fantastic memories of the time I spent with him prior to his passing in 1988. He and my Nana would often be enlisted to mind the four Warts when my parents would get a small respite travelling or getting together with friends. In my grandparent's relationship, Papa was the cook while Nana was the baker, which means that a goodly portion of my memories of him surrounded Papa's tasty meals. Easily the clearest and most intense are the memories of his breakfasts, the bacon and French Toast sizzling their way through the airwaves of the house, nudging me out of bed earlier than normal. When Papa was around, you had to wear your slippers or you weren't welcomed at the table, a leftover of his Scottish upbringing. He led quite the life ... young Jack fought in WWI as a 17 year old, suffered some PTSD that caused some long recovery after the war's end, a long and profitable career with Grand and Toy, and not the least of which was his amazing partnership with my Nana in job raising my mom and aunt.

Jenn Porter came into our family when she said yes to my brother Rob's proposal. She grew up in Collingwood but we've never held that against her ... giggle ... and has a larger than life personality, which is to say that she is not afraid to tell you what she thinks or to share an opinion about a topic at hand. She also loves large, investing herself totally and wholly with those she deems worthy of her affection. Jenn is a warrior in how she has dealt with her personal battles and we're all thrilled that she is winning victories with regularity. Living up to her natural fiery red hair colour, she is the spark to my brother Rob's flame plus she had a big hand in how awesome my nephew's turned out. 

Well, the cat's out of the bag ... I'm officially a dolt! In the original post I neglected to include my SIL Kate Porter who's birthday is on July 2nd. I have no excuses for that, so I simply fall on my sword. What a terrible way to treat such a sweetheart of a lady. For those that know my brothers and I, and especially know my brother Mike, you will immediately have an appreciation for what a gift from heaven (actually, she's from BC but some say that's the same) Kate is. A very kind soul, she has the patience of Job, is a self-professed cat lady, and likes nothing more than spending time with her own company ... and her PS4 ... and her cats! HaHa! My sincerest apologies to Kate for the oversight. The good news is that it will never happen again!

My niece-in-law Krista is Joyce's brother Gary's oldest. Since Gary's extended family lives on the other side of Ontario from us (Pembroke area), we haven't spent as much time as any of us would have preferred, but the time we did invest allowed for a "sneak peek" at the amazingness that is Krista. She has always been a big influence in her brother Jamie's life with him being on the spectrum and requiring an extra set of hands to help with learning life, and those skills eventually led her down the pathway to Special Education as an Educational Assistant. She is an outstanding mom to two gorgeous little 'uns Levi and Lexy, and shares her amazingness with her husband Jeff, an officer in the Armed Forces. 

Rounding this lengthy list is my nephew Marcus, my brother Rob's oldest. Marcus is what I would affectionately term a "Good Ol' Boy" because he is generally an upbeat, happy, outgoing person with a big laugh, a huge heart, and a lust for fun times. He landed himself a well paying job and quickly made the decision to treat himself to a large orange Dodge Ram pickup, completing the picture of the GOB. Being a fellow man of girth, I greatly appreciated his prowess on the football field, but it was his effervescence and passion that drew others to him like moths to a flame. With school behind him, he's turned his sights on the outdoor life, as the photo as the left attests. The moniker of GOB, is his case, is a badge he should wear with honour!

Happiest birthday wishes and thoughts to each of them!