"Who's a Nelson?"

Like Mark, my brother-in-law, Erik, is a super creative guy. He's always coming up with cool ideas to make things more fun and interesting. For example, last year we were celebrating his daughter's first communion when he gave her a small present; she unwrapped it to find a little box with a slit on the side, and a piece of paper about the same width as a cash register receipt was sticking out. Something was written on it sideways, so she had to pull on it to see the rest of the message. After pulling out the entire message there was a dollar bill taped onto the end of the paper. And then another one was attached to the end of that one. She kept pulling the roll to reveal a string of 20 $1 bills - what a fun way to present a gift! I don't know who had more fun, Sofie or the rest of us watching her.

Months before Mark and I got married, Erik showed us a cute game he had started playing with his kids who were about 3, 5, and 7 at the time. He would say, "Whoooo's a Nelson?" In unison, the kids would shoot their hands in the air and shout "Meeeee!" It was really cute, and it became a normal part of all the family get togethers. I, of course, was not a Nelson yet, so I would keep my hand down and just enjoy how cute the kids were.

So, fast forward to our wedding. Erik was Mark's best man, and he gave the greatest best man toast of all time - really, it was that good. He was a natural, starting out with some hilarious stories about Mark that had all of our guests roaring with laughter, and then winding it down to give some really sweet advice about stopping to enjoy special moments even if it's just a look across the room when things are really busy. It was so heartfelt and genuine, I wish I had a transcript of it to share here. But the best part was when he asked everybody to raise their glass to toast, and he asked his famous question... "Whooooo's a Nelson?" Of course the room was filled with over a dozen Nelsons with all of Mark's relatives, so in a loud chorus we Nelsons all responded with an enthusiastic "Meeeeee!" And for the first time, I got to join in :) Leave it to Erik to find a way to make a girl feel so welcome in the family, in a way that was so special that it took months to build up.