Matt Shoe

Yesterday my little brother, Matty, turned 25. I think that means I am officially old since I am the oldest of three and now the youngest is in his mid-20s. That's cool though, cause it's really my parents who are the old ones.

I left for college when Matt was 13, so he kind of remained fixed in my mind as a kid until one year when I called home and didn't recognize his deep voice answering the phone. Then he grew to be over six feet tall and seemed to take pleasure in pushing me around (revenge for all those times I threw blankets over his head when we were younger?), in a playful manner of course.

Our grandfather used to call him "Mattshoo" and so my brother Craig, with his penchant for bizarre nicknames, started calling Matt "Shoe". Matty, or Mr. Shoe as he soon became known (and then Snr. Zapato when I came back from Central America), didn't seem to like it at first but the name stuck. Then he went to work for City Sports and became manager of the Shoe Department and it was clear that he was destined to be linked with foot ware forever.

In addition to the excellent discounts on running shoes, another perk of Matt's job was getting to hear about his hilarious encounters with 80s movie star Val Kilmer. It seems Val was a close personal friend of the store owner and loved to go in and give the ladies a thrill by changing in the middle of the store. Whenever he saw Matt, he called him "Buddy." Awesome.

On Christmas Eve I was driving home from dinner with the family in Natick, when my other brother Craig started going off about how gay people having children is "weird." In response to his request that Matt back up this view, the Shoe replied "Actually, I have a lot of gay friends. I met a lot of people working at City Sports." This was by far one of my favorite comments Matt made during my entire vacation, and I am glad to know that City Sports is such a mecca of diversity in Boston.

But mostly I am glad that my littlest brother has grown up to be such a wonderful person. Whenever I need a ride from the airport at 6am, Matty comes to get me. He was the cutest red-head kid in the world, and judging from his New Years Eve Myspace pictures, does ok for himself with the ladies now. I am excited that he is going back to school and I hope that 25 is a real good year for the Shoe. Happy Birthday Matt.