It’s nearly 6 a.m. and I’m wide awake. I haven’t done this in forever. I’m wired because of the last few stressful days. But oddly I don’t want to talk about the house. I want to talk about something I don’t think I’ve ever talked about.
My brother in law Doug. He is Rick’s half brother from the same father, different mother. Doug and I met the same exact night I met Rick. In fact it was Doug’s then girlfriend who introduced me to Rick but yet it was a joint effort because Doug went and got Rick from where he was to bring him to where I was.
Doug is a notorious smart ass and so am I and so he and I have always had a sort of love/hate relationship. We love to hate each other. We consistently try to outdo each other with the insults etc. Tonight Rick and I went to visit Doug. I normally allow Rick to have his “man†time with his brother Doug. Doug has lived less than five minutes away form Rick and I for the last 5 years. While I don’t know Doug’s precise age, I do know he’s at least 12 years older than Rick, perhaps more. I’m sorta rambling here, but tonight I realized that in my heart of hearts I really LIKE Doug and like him a lot in fact. I love to verbally spar with him and I especially love the fact that he says what he truly means and means what he always says. I can really dig a person who does that. And he really doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks about him or how he chooses to live.I think I’ve always truly liked Doug but his personality mixed with mine creates a humorous back and forth sparing that is always hilarious. I rarely speak about him because I tend to veer away from speaking about Rick’s family out of respect. I have always envied him his relationships with his brother’s. They do not always make sense but they always look out for each other and they’ve always been close. When I met Rick I gained all of these other zany boys in some way too. In the last 5 years I have grown quite used to them and have grown to appreciate them on a different level. I’m no longer envious of Rick’s luck and more grateful for my own. Â
Tonight, all in one evening, Rick’s twin brother Randy and his family came to visit and I quite enjoyed shoving my nose into baby Matthews neck and sniffing in his baby glorious smell while he giggled and allowed me to kiss his chubby cheeks endlessly.  I then went with Rick to visit his brother Doug and sat with them while they rambled on about poker, bills, life, etc. I’ve always enjoyed any time that I’ve gone to visit Doug and tonight for the first time I realized entirely a piece of the puzzle. Doug reminds me of my own father in so many ways. My father was outspoken, zany, fun and also didn’t give a shit what people thought of him. But he too was just a good guy.For the first time ever I asked Doug for his email address so I could shoot over some house pictures for him to see. When we lived in the apartment complex there was never any parking and Doug would complain about coming to visit us because of this fact.Â
So when I sent my email I said “we have tons of parking space too!â€Â I got a return email from him saying
…it looks nice   I SEE IT GOT A POKER ROOM HEEHAWS
This is his reference to our screened patio at the back of the house. Doug has one on his house and it’s the notorious poker room everyone goes to. I can only hope that Rick will have many hours of rowdy poker playing fun with his brother’s in our new home.I suppose I just wanted to state for the record, I love Rick’s family and I’m glad they let me. I had a moment of clarity tonight when I realized we spent a majority of the evening with his brother’s separately and I had a great time being a part of family. The line between what is his and what is mine has completely blurred and it feels wonderful. We also had another encounter on Thursday night with his nephew Sean and his girlfriend Kelli. Sean is now 18. Sean was just 13 when I first met him.Â
I’ve always joked with Doug that Rick is not allowed around him without my permission because he’s trouble and a bad influence…lol…….but tonight…after much realization…I responded to his email as follows. Yes it has a poker room and yes he’s allowed to invite you over to play. I can close the door on y’all. 
Doug jr., Doug and Sean showing up for our wedding two years ago. Doug never dresses up so this was me grabbing the camera because Doug and his son bought matching suits for the wedding. It was a great moment. Sean changed clothes after he arrived.  So this is my nephew, my brother in law and my other nephew.
Rick has two sisters too. One lives in Illinois in Rick’s hometown and the other just moved with our 3 nephews including Sean, to Ohio recently.  We have 5 nephews (including baby Matthew) on Rick’s side of the family and 2 nieces on mine.  Rick also has another half brother who lives in Orlando.  I’m lucky. But don’t tell Doug that I actually “love” him. Â
