Big Johnny

My dad called last night at 9:30.

My parents never, ever make phone calls after 9:00, not unless it's an emergency, so it was with a great deal of trepidation that I took the phone.

When we were kids, my brother was Little Johnny, because our uncle was Big Johnny. We called him "Uncle Johnny," usually, but at family gatherings, the adults all used "Big" and "Little" to distinguish between them.

It's not quite accurate to say my brother had been named for my uncle, because my uncle -- John Thames -- had been named for our grandfather, his father -- John Blanchard -- who was still alive at the time. So it's probably more accurate to say merely that my brother -- John Evans -- had been given the family name. (Along with, apparently, the family tradition of goofy-ass middle names. This is why I stopped whining about "Elizabeth Carol" when I was about ten.)

My dad called last night to tell me that Uncle Johnny went to see his doctor yesterday for a routine exam, and wound up in the hospital to be prepped for an emergency triple bypass surgery sometime today. Dad wanted me to know, and also to let me know that he and Mom would be driving down to be with him and my Aunt Laura and the rest of the family, so they wouldn't be able to pick Penny up from school today and whether they could babysit for us this weekend as we'd been planning was entirely up in the air.

Uncle Johnny is my mom's older brother, which makes him not quite seventy, but pushing it. (I had to do that math twice, because the number surprised me so much... That puts my own parents perilously close to 70, as well, and suddenly it's not so shocking that they've been considering moving into a retirement community.)

I told Dad that of course they should go provide support, I could certainly pick Penny up from school and we can re-schedule our movie if need be.

Matt told me that he was ready to support if I wanted to go down to North Carolina as well... I'm holding off on that decision until I hear how the surgery goes today. Either way, we may consider making a trip down for a visit this summer.