Sunday Night With John: A Stoic Peewee and An Emotional Golden Boy Take Vegas

My brother gave me the nickname Peewee when I was little and at some point in his life, he landed the nickname Golden Boy. It doesn’t really seem fair but my moniker faded overtime, but my brother’s Golden Boy name stuck and become a jab as he ages. I’m not an expert in a lot of areas but the one thing I am an expert in is my brother. Most little brothers are experts on their older brothers. It comes from years of looking up to, fighting with, and figuring out a way to stay connected yet independent.

This spring I was invited to join my brother, his wife, and friends in Vegas for a long weekend. I’ve never had an itch to visit Vegas but a weekend with my brother is always fun, so off I went.  My brother has played many roles in my life: The big brother I wanted to be just like, the big brother who I wanted to be the exact opposite of, my father figure after the death of our father, and finally, one of my best friends. Our evolution has been on-going and as usual, Vegas offered us another glimpse of how far we have come from our first house on Troutman Road in Colebrook, Ohio.

The not-so-young Golden Boy couldn’t stay up with me after I arrived late in the night. He said hello, hugged me, and then went to bed. The younger Golden Boy would have been so unimpressed. The next morning I met up with Golden Boy and we walked the strip and caught up. I heard about my nephew and basketball, and I caught my brother up about my life in Iowa. 

Over the years Golden boy has always supported my public speaking and our conversations turned to my message. He jokes about how everyone is sharing emotions too much and it would be better if we all kept them on the inside. Don’t let the Golden boy fool you, he is not a robot nor does he keep his emotions hidden. My brother isn’t a sharer of emotions verbally but non-verbally the man can’t help himself.

Golden Boy expressed his happiness to have a group of friends come all the way to Vegas for him by buying us a wonderful dinner Friday night. I’m pretty sure happiness is an emotion. During another conversation, Golden Boy’s voice tone change as he was expressing excitement over the direction of the business he is running. Excitement, another emotion my brother just can’t keep to himself. Lastly, Golden Boy’s love for his wife and son shows through in just about every action the man takes. Come on, Golden Boy, can’t you keep those emotions to yourself, like a normal person?

Whether the Golden boy will ever admit it or not we all share emotions in some way shape or form, and that’s why they matter. I’m sure I will get a phone call about this blog and he will ask why I wrote about his emotionally expressive trip. I will smile and say, you should have never given me the nickname Peewee when we were little. I expressed anger with you back then and told you I didn’t like it.  A little payback to my emotional older brother; maybe next trip Golden Boy can make it a little less emotional.