Lucky Uncle

If you’ll allow me a moment of familial indulgence, I am darn sure that I’m the luckiest uncle in the whole world:  My niece, Dahlia, is blossoming into such a special little girl—just a really good kid who has been through a whole lot and yet remains so grounded and kind and with such a loving, joyous, open heart. She is that child who makes you dream of having children of your own one day. A true sweetheart. It turns out she also has a real flair for comedy, even as a nine-year-old.

In the middle of our weekly telephone conversation last Wednesday, usually about sleepovers and hair braiding and beaded necklaces she made for me in her art class, she asked about my fledging writing career, quickly breaking the tension of my equivocating with a joke of her own:

“Uncle Marky,” she said.
“Yeah, honey.”
“Why does SpongeBob Squarepants live in a pineapple at the bottom of the sea?”
“I don’t know, sweetheart. Why.”
“Because he’s a CUNT”