check out the big brain on james!

Congratulations to my LITTLE brother, James, for graduating this week from the University of Wisconsin (Madison) with a B.A. in History/Southeast Asian Studies (double major). (He is shown here with his wife, his eldest sister, and holding his youngest niece -- this was over a year ago.) Now he wants to go to law school, maybe at the U, maybe at the U-dub, maybe in Australia, maybe at the Harvard...I really don't know.

I have lots of James Stories. And since it is Christmas, I will tell you one of my favorites, which happens to be a Christmas story. It's not really even a story, I guess...it's a letter that he wrote to Santa when he was almost 11 years old. Now, before I show you what the letter says, I want you to think of an 11-year old boy that you know. If you don't know one, imagine one. Imagine what he might want for Christmas, what he would ask Santa for.

And now, here is James's letter to Santa (his own words):

December 9, 1991

Dear Santa,

Please give the Puerto Ricon family at Church a warm shelter, healthy food, and warm clothes for the winter. I would like you to do this because they just moved here and I don't think they have warm enough clothes. It would be really great if you could do this for me. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jayme Noonan

I don't know why I have this letter in my possession. I do know that I like to get it out and read it every once in a while. This letter was of great comfort to me during the time when James was off partying at the great and spacious building. It reminded me that his heart was right, and that he'd be okay as long as he didn't forget who he was...he did forget for awhile, he just needed to be reminded.

Oh, Jayme Noonan. You nerd. You smart, smart nerd.