Lots of people have nice nephews so please don’t take this
the wrong way, but my nephew Noah could beat your nephew in basketball,
blindfolded. One night he, his father – my brother - and I were playing
basketball on an outdoor court in Nicholasville, Kentucky, one of those with
the double ring rims that do not give at all, and just after dark; we did not
want to quit so we were still there and Noah decided to shoot free throws and he
hit nine out of 10 in the dark. I’d like to see your nephew do that.
Also, my nephew Noah – that sounds better than just calling
him Noah- is now several inches taller than his father – my brother – Earl,
making him a little taller than me. In fact, the last time I saw him he was
growing rapidly and we have not talked for a few weeks, so he may be well over
six feet tall by now, making him – I suspect – virtually impossible to guard.
I have not seen him play many games, but I saw him win the
MVP of an all-star game in Somerset, Kentucky this past year. After only a
couple of minutes into the game, he had three, three pointers – at which
point the opposing coach decided they needed to guard him a little more
closely. In the two games that day, he hit something like 11 three pointers out
of 17 tries and, as I said, walked away with the MVP trophy, his team winning
by large margins in both games and he serving as the steady, calming influence
as point guard against players who were, at that point, mostly taller and
considerably heavier than him.
We knew Noah was going to be a good basketball player
several years ago when he started telling us he was going to someday play in
the NBA – I mean, how cool is confidence, right? I helped send him to a summer
camp in Chapel Hill, NC about six years ago, where he met Kenny the-jet Smith
and got to learn from several sharp instructors. We sent him to that camp
because since he was a wee lad he has liked North Carolina, for some reason.
Kentucky won the championship the spring of the year he was
born and then won it again two years later, but of course, he was too young to
be aware of those teams, so by the time he became a fan of college basketball,
North Carolina was the best team, so I suppose that is why he adopted them as
his favorite.
When he was about 10 years old, I saw him play organized
basketball for the first time and although he was one of the smallest players
on the floor, he was a deft ball handler and he hit a back over the head layup
that any NBA guard would be proud of – without even stopping to admire it or
show off, returning to defensive stance immediately - always a good sign.
As you can tell, I know how it feels to take pride in a
nephew, so I don’t blame you for thinking your nephew is terrific and I am sure
in his own way, he might well be. But my nephew Noah is handsome – look his
picture up on facebook if you don’t believe me, has a charming personality –
ask anyone in my family or that he goes to school with, if you don’t believe
me; and not only that, he is a soul winner.
By the time I was eleven years old I had won six people to
the lord. Noah may not have done it that early, but he has kept it up and I am
sure he has passed me by now, since I quit winning souls and started living
like someone who needs his soul won, in my late teens and early
twenties. I kid him that he will end up like Chris “Birdman” Anderson of the
NBA, with all that body art on his neck and face, but so far he is walking the
straight and narrow and seems destined to be like his father and grandfather, a
man close to his Biblical upbringing.
So, if your nephew is under six feet tall, cannot hit ninety
percent of his free throws in the dark, has never won MVP of an all-star game, is
not the best player in his high school basketball league, and is not a Bible
believing soul winner, do me a favor, when your nephew’s birthday comes around,
call him up and tell him you love him and that you are proud of him, because if
he knows my nephew Noah, his self-esteem may be suffering from the comparison.
But if your nephew compares well to my nephew Noah – with
the looks, charming personality and humility – which I don’t think I mentioned
before, but yes, on top of everything else he is unassuming and humble in his
attitude; then you should be proud of your nephew and have him contact my
nephew Noah. Maybe they could hang out and learn from another how to be even
more awesome.
I am sorry if I have turned this into a competitive birthday
wish for my nephew Noah, but then, nephews only turn seventeen once, are only
seniors in high school once and are only the pride of the family for a little
while until some other young person comes along and takes center stage in
holiday conversations.
The last thing I want to say about my nephew Noah is that he
loves his grandmother – my mother with great passion, cried like a baby when
his grandfather - my dad, died on mother’s day in 2006, is almost as devoted to
his father – my brother Earl as he is to his heavenly father, and perhaps most importantly,
in almost every way, he reminds me of myself when I was his age.
Happy Birthday, Noah.
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