SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

Another Crouton In The Salad Bowl
[Please Welcome Avery Hughes]

That's my nephew Adam, his wife Ashley and their new baby, Avery, who came to us last night a little after 5 p.m.

I've known Adam a long time. Since he was about 6, actually.

Back then he was a fun kid who loved to play Tiger Heli on his Nintendo. He was a great little league baseball player with a cannon for an arm. He was a little spoiled, but he was an only child at that point and he deserved all the love and attention he got.

My favorite Adam story is the one where he's about 9 or 10. We're shopping at Sawgrass Mills, a Pentagon-size mall outside of Fort Lauderdale.

Adam was at a "gimme gimme" stage of his life. He knew he could pretty much ask for whatever he wanted and he'd get it.

He was walking with his aunt Ruth, his aunt Grace and me through the mall when we went past a sunglasses store. He saw a pair that were obscenely expensive. Like, almost $200 worth of expensive. They were marked down to a more "reasonable" $199 or something.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Adam said, feigning retail awe. "We've gotta get these. It would be, like... saving money if we bought them."

Ahem.

I mean, who couldn't love this boy?

And now he has a family of his own.

Sorry, but I'm a little bit proud.

Here's a slideshow from his first evening as a new dad:

Posted by Jeff at July 20, 2010 07:32 AM | TrackBack