Reunion Fallout

As mentioned here, Beck headed up to Rochester last weekend for the annual family reunion while I stayed at home to care for the pups (and gloriously win a glow-in-the-dark hat tourney, Yeah!). More than one family member has pointed out that ever since I made the back of the shirt, I have skipped the reunions.

Oh no. My evil scheme has been uncovered. I. am. ruined.

Since I am in the East Coast Family Dog House, the Beck and I thought it would be a good idea to make penance for my actions (or lack thereof) and have a little family reunion down here in Sunny Azz. Turns out Beck's Aunt Jane's (no relation, aka aunt by marriage) nephew Kevin is finishing up his first year as a Econ grad student in good ol' Tempe. He's Beck's cousins' cousin, which for some reason compelled Beck to repeatedly mention that they could legally get married, current husband notwithstanding. Ouch. After weirding Kevin out with a phone call that started thusly:

"Hi, you don't know me, but we should have dinner!"

We met up with him down at his apartment in Tempe to check out the summer college scene and grab a bite to eat. Smart, nice guy who did his undergrad in Bentley College in Waltham, MA, so we had not only the expected stuff to talk about:

"You have family in Buffalo? I, too, have family in Buffalo!"
"You're in grad school at ASU? I, too, am in grad school at ASU!"

But also the shared experience of driving on the 128/95 nightmare on a daily basis. Beck also indirectly - by virtue of her having sent rogue bikers to his house - steered his life towards Bentley, so we were more closely linked than we thought. Sounds like his undergrad experience was pretty similar to ours (though I don't recall rioting at Rice after Red Sox wins), so conversation was easy. Indeed, props for that, because such situations have all kinds of potential for awkwardness, but we had a great time. We grabbed supper at an Irish Pub and predictably downed some Guinesses. Good times.

Beck also made the hard sell on the Giant Panda:

And gave Kevin a copy of Slow Down, so hopefully he'll make the trek up to Flagstaff with us in a few weeks to see the show. That's right, GPGDS in Sunny Azz!!! Shall be sweet.

So Aunt Jane, your nephew is doing well and now knows at least two more people in this silly city. Good luck to Kevin on his upcoming do or die econ finals, and we hope to see him around soon.