Those of you who have been reading my blog over the past few months most likely remember me mentioning my cousin Matt. He of the shy demeanor who had suddenly decided he wanted to go to college after all, live in the dorms, and break out of his shell. Well, I'm going to supply you with an update.
Its going well!
The other day, half as a joke, I suggested we go to a local strip club. I'd been in Alaska for two years and badly needed to be reminded that there were attractive, non-beat down, girls out there. Also it would be Matt's first time. I didn't expect him to say yes, so I also hung out the choice of going to one of the local villages and shooting a few games of pool.
So, I give him a call this evening and he says, I swear I'm not making this up, "Lets go to the club. We've done the Rosholt thing before; I want to try something new".
"Matt!", I exclaimed, "what have you done with the Matt I've known for the past 26 years!" I was shocked, but overjoyed. This is the same guy who would always argue against going to the theater because it was too expensive and too crowded; he'd rather rent a few vids and stay at home.
We went and, I'm happy to say, we had a blast. I spent about 60 bucks; not bad when you consider I had four drinks and a lap dance. Matt even had a lap dance himself, which suprised and overjoyed me.
Its weird; I'm not proud to say it, but for the past few years I hadn't been spending much time with him because it was depressing. He was in his 20's, still living at home, unemployed, and seemed content to go on that way forever. I'm not sure whats happened, but there is just so much more life in him these days. He's excited about college, wants to actually do something with his life, and has loosened up so much, He's still shy by conventional standards but, hey, whatcha gunna do? The changes that I've seen in him the past few weeks really make me proud of him.
I think he's going to love college; he'll have no problems with the class work (he's a very intelligent man) and the exposure to people outside of his family is going to do him well. I would be too suprised to find him having a girlfriend by this time next year, or at the very least, having kissed a girl by that point.
*laughs* I think I'm really proud of him
lolablu:
It sounds like something just "clicked" for your cousin. That's great. It's really uplifting to see the people around us doing well.