Troy Linn is Nick’s favorite brother-in-law. Well since he has one sister, Troy is the only one. They do love each other.
We are grateful for the love and acceptance that our children’s spouses have exhibited to Nick over the years. Our family certainly has been blessed by all three of them, Tiffany, Troy and Tasha.
I recognize that having a family member with disabilities can take getting used to. Not only is Nick’s speech hard to understand, his behavior is not always easy to manage. Handling his seizures is another difficult thing alltogether.
Although Troy and Nick had attended the same high school, there had not been a lot of interaction between them. When he joined our family, Troy made it a point to understand Nick’s idiosyncrasies.
In our family we call people by other names than their given name. Nick has picked up on this tradition and has taken it to a new level. He gives others “Nick”names. Once given, they stick.
Many times Nick will start calling the person whatever name they are calling him. For example, Arden’s dad would call Nick “Bud” and so Nick started calling his grandpa “Bud”, well over time, everyone was calling him Grandpa Bud, even though his name was Darrell. Also Karen had started teasing Nick by calling him Chico, the name of a cat that Nick didn’t like. Nick still calls her Karen-Chico sometimes.
Troy thought that he had a great idea. One day when he came over he said, “Hi, Nick boss.” He did that a few more times and suddenly Nick was saying, “Hi, Troy boss.” That was very funny and we all laughed. I think that the laughter cemented the deal. Even now, years later, every once in a while, Nick will still call Troy, “Troy Boss.” and then he laughs. He thinks that he is very funny.
We all know that Nick will stick to something for years and we don’t always know what those things will be. Some are frustrating and some are funny. It is just a part of our Nick.
Please share this blog if it resonates with you or you know someone who might benefit from it. If you want to get a copy of the book as soon as it is available, click here to sign up.
