I have five brothers. The closest in age to myself is seven years older. The next one is eight years younger. It is this one that I have spent the most time living with while younger. My aunt gave him a nick name when he was very young; Boo. It was customary to say his name followed by the moniker Boo. Over time it was shortened to simply Boo. When I was in high school and he was in the last states of Elementary 6th or 7th grade, he started to participate in our church's youth group along with myself. Now, as I have mentioned, he is eight years younger than myself. This eliminated a lot of the sibling rivalry that can happen when born close together. I always see him as someone watching me, looking at me as an example. I have been told that my brother was quiet cute. I never took this one way or the other because I considered my view of him either biased or skewed. Our church youth group would take a trip during the summer for about half of one week and go on a mission trip. One particular summer we teamed up with a church in the next town which had a youth group that was mostly made up of females. Many of which were my brothers age. It turns out that a few of them had a crush on him but I was not aware. The rooming situation fell with my brother and I, along with one of my best friends (we'll call him Andrew) staying together in one room. So we are getting ready for bed, my brother is already dosing while watching TV. My friend Andrew begins to talk with me in code about the girls that have a crush on my brother. We do a fine job of talking in code and Boo not understanding or picking up on it, partly due him being half asleep. At one point, Andrew slips and says Boo by name. To which my brother stirs and says "Are you talking about me?" To which Andrew responds "Oh no, Boo. Not you. We are talking about some other Boo. Boo-B." To which my high school mind instantly begins to snigger. I grin really big at Andrew and ask if he realized what he just said. His face, instantly becomes puzzled as he thinks back to what he said. I can see the wheels turning in his head and wondering if he gave more away than the fact that we were talking about Boo, and then it hit him! "Boo B" To which we both laughed and clarified to Boo that he was not Boo-B but rather Boo-A. So now his nickname evolved from Boo to Boo-A. This became a running gag, to which my brother quickly caught on. We went around constantly saying his name and introducing him as Boo-A, hoping that someone would ask the question.
Most got it up front and simply saying "Boo-A" was enough for a chuckle or giggle. It was not until later that we were at another church function, a lunch were all the youth were going outside to throw around a ball behind the Fellowship hall. Someone yelled, "Hey come on down Boo-A". This prompted another youth group member to shout the question we have been waiting for, "IS THERE A BOO B???" Instant realization swept over him and he knew that he messed up. The only sound heard after this question was the cackling of my church youth group!
Here is to you, Boo A
