A Glimpse Into My Childhood

Meet Craig. He is my dear old Uncle. He is (obviously) my dad's brother. Older Brother. You would NEVER know that he's older based on how he lives his life. Every year he and my Aunt Susan travel to some different part of the world and backpack it. Coming up on 60 (holy crap, that's old :) ) he is the most in-shape guy I know. He skied 50 times this winter. (Not THAT hard to do if you live in Tahoe...)
Anyways, Uncle Craig has always lived in Truckee. My whole life. He and Susan have always always always been two of my favorite people. I remember as a child thinking it so strange that they weren't married. (Silly hippies... ;) ) I remember asking them all the time when they were going to get married. Their response? If it ain't broke...
I have SO many great memories of Uncle Craig. In fact, I have a scar on my left pointer finger from when I was playing a game with him when I was around 12. He ended up with a layer of skin from my finger in his mouth and I ended up with a scar. Every time I look at it I smile and think of him.
My fondest memories of Craig were ones that were a yearly thing (until I was too old for it... although if I would let him he would probably still try to do it.) Every summer when we would go visit him in Truckee we would go swimming. He would chuck Kelly and me across the pool. He would throw us up and we would do flips before landing not-so-gracefully in the water. He would play games with us in the pool. He would tease us and taunt us and tickle us. I will never ever ever ever forget those fun days of playing with my sweet Uncle Craig in the water... it's probably the closest I've ever come to flying.
So, I find myself, 25 years later, watching my amazing Uncle doing this again, with my adorable little nieces. When he was in town for Bryan's graduation (I know, so nice of him to come!!) he went swimming with everyone and was throwing the Ladies EVERYWHERE!!! And, like their mother and myself, they were digging it! They fell in love with Craig just like Kelly and I did when we were their age. They love him even though Santa is going to bring him coal. They love him even though he doesn't make his bed just right. (That's right, Grace actually went in and remade it for him because "the pillows are suppose to stand straight up, Uncle Craig!")
I love my Uncle Craig. I hope he knows that we'll take care of him and Susan when they're old and senile. I hope he knows that I smile EVERY time I think of him. I hope he knows that my kids will hear about him long after he's dead and gone. I hope he knows what a great impact he's had on my life. I really hope he knows how much I love him and his larger-than-life heart.