The CEO’s niece and nephew. The happy girl is just barely learning to walk, but Chuckles, the boy, is more coordinated today than the CEO ever was. I saw these kids and their dear mum just last weekend.

Chuckles and I have a few games we usually play when we see each other. One is just called football and consists of the CEO holding a football and Chuckles trying to tackle me. When he’s lucky I just give him a juke or whip out my wicked spin move; when he’s less lucky I go with the stiff arm or a lowered shoulder. This game often ends badly for the young man. Someday I am going to pay for this, when I show up in Bellevue and all of a sudden Chuckles is 6′2″ and 220 pounds, but not anytime soon. The other game he and I play is called statue football. In this game, one person stands as still as possible (the statue), while the other throws a football at them. The goal is for the statue not to move, even if the ball is coming right at their head. Or belly. Or crotch. I must say, this game is a lot less fun for the CEO now that Chuckles has developed a throwing arm. . .