Who says big boys don't cry?

Last weekend we had a surprise 80th birthday party for my uncle in law,
Boxy. He thought that he was making the trip from Baltimore to Stewartstown, Pennsylvania because it was a birthday party for me. (He didn't know my birthday is in December). Cousins, nieces, nephews, inlaws, outlaws (ha ha), daughters, and many other family members and honorary family members joined in the celebration. When he walked in, he was so surprised that it brought him to tears. I must say it was the best surprise party reaction I have ever witnessed. Especially when his daughter "came out of the woodworks!"

One thing I especially enjoy when chatting with folks of his generation is the storytelling. I asked him where the name "Boxy" came from. At first he said he did not know, that he had had it for as long as he could remember. Then it came to him -when he was a youngster growing up in Baltimore, he had a part time job delivering groceries. The produce was always packed in a box. The patrons would eagerly await their deliveries and when they saw him approaching up the block, they would yell out "hey box boy......" Eventually "Box Boy" turned into "Boxy" and that is what he is affectionately called to this day - nearly 70 years later. I don't even know his birth name!

Check out a picture of Boxy in his newly acquired Yankee jersey. (I wonder where he got that from?!!!) Orioles fan that he is, he still took on my father in law's tradition of proudly wearing Yankee gear, because it was given by someone special!!!!