January 22: Casting Call

No, I am not going to play an extra in an upcoming motion picture filmed in Michigan, as today's title may have mislead you to think. Instead, this experience had more to do the recently broken leg incurred by my oldest niece, Stefanie. The unfortunate incident occurred around the turning of the new year as a result of a sledding expedition gone bad. We had been getting regular status reports from my sis regarding Stef's condition and progress, but this evening we were able to finally stop by and visit her in person. Thank God, too, because my daughter had been nagging us incessantly, since we first learned of the accident, over going to see Stefanie because she wanted to sign her cast. That's over 3 long weeks of nagging from a 6-year old; those of you with kids know exactly what that sounds like and those of you without kids don't ever want to be on the receiving end of such persistence. Needless to say my daughter's wish was finally fulfilled while I, too, had an opportunity to fulfill my goal of experiencing something new: this was the first time I had ever signed my "John Hancock" to a cast. Pretty strange, if I say so myself. Here I am, a very young 41 (and I do mean VERY young), and I've never signed some one's cast. Those of you who are thinking "jeez, didn't this guy have any friends growing up?", I can confirm that, yes, I did have plenty of friends. But, fortunately or unfortunately (depending on how you look at it), none of them ever broke a bone. And, neither have I. Although as a kid I always thought it would be cool to do so. Now, as an adult, and especially after talking with Stefanie, I can say that I'm glad that's once experience I haven't encountered yet. And, there you have it. My niece's broken leg leads me to something new and guides her to fame and fortune as the focus of today's blog entry. Okay, given the low level of readership that I assume is associated with this blog, there's likely no fame or fortune awaiting you Stef, but I certainly appreciate the opportunity to sign your cast and continue one of my goals for 2010. So, thank you!