When our car immediately started on a recent cold morning, I texted my brother-in-law Chuck to thank him for his help with a new battery. Even though I’ve surely been a nuisance to him since 1998, he has been an ever-dependable help to me.
After my nephew Conrad was born in 1997, I was determined to live in St. Joseph to be closer to him. I finally secured a job and moved here the following year. Chuck patiently helped move my things into a children’s home where I’d accepted a live-in position. When it soon became clear that this wasn’t the right job for me, Chuck patiently helped move my things out…and into the basement of the duplex where he and my sister lived. Even though it was a temporary fix, I’m certain he hadn’t planned on a squatter with boxes of vintage hats taking up space in his home.
When I found a new job and studio apartment, Chuck gladly helped move me again. Even though I was no longer constantly underfoot, I continued to be a quite frequent visitor in his home. I have to wonder if he started to quietly wish I would find some friends soon, but he never made me feel unwelcome. And, still, he came to my rescue.
One evening during a snowstorm, my sister asked him to come fetch me at my apartment. The plan was for me to spend the night so Chuck could drive me to work the next morning. After we had safely made it back to their house, I realized that I may have left a candle burning in my apartment. Poor Chuck climbed into his truck so we could drive back across town to check. When I sheepishly told him the candle hadn’t been lit, he didn’t even shake his head in frustration. Instead, he lightheartedly took corners quickly and spun donuts in the deep snow of the streets.
In the years that have followed, he has been a steady source of support. There have been more moving boxes, countless home repair questions, trips with us for doctor appointments and surgeries, and even a hug here and there even though he’s not generally a fan of them. He has stayed with Jason so I could attend important events, and been a tremendous influence on Eli. Through it all, he hasn’t needed my gushy expressions of gratitude, but it seems he’s going to get them all the same.
