Opening Up

My grandnephew, Matt Masterson is the only son of my nephew, Rob Masterson and his wife Dustie. Because he is the only boy, he feels a responsibility to be the mentor for his sisters Raelynn and Taylor. For Taylor, that has been a great thing, because he is one of the best influences in her life. Taylor says, “He has this energy to him that screams, ‘I have confidence’ but he’s still very humble about it.” Buba (as Taylor calls him) has been loving his job in phone repair and as he grows older that teenaged annoyance with his siblings is gone. As Taylor says, it’s really hard to believe that Matt is already 20 but time flies. Just a couple of days ago, he made a real effort to get to know their sister, Christina’s new stepson and husband. Just a few years ago, he would have said, “Hi” and left ten minutes later. This time, he stayed and visited with them. Since Chris lives in Colorado, they don’t get to see her very much, which made the visit even better.

Matt likes to ask his sisters if they will go with him to grab his pick up orders when he knows they have been inside for too long. Although he still teases them all the time for their “being weird.” Taylor says, “I love Matt a whole lot more then any language written, spoken, forgotten, or unknown can describe, and I hope he has a great day!!”

Raelynn says, “I recently started to spend more time with Matt. He’s been coming out of his room more for work, and they talk while he gets his shoes on. I love him a lot. This year has been pretty…rough, on everyone, and it stresses him out. He’s so much like dad it’s insane. Because he wants to help, when we’re stressed or anxious, but he doesn’t know how to. He does his best anyway, but he’s been open with us. On the way to Chris’ wedding, he even played rock paper scissors with me. He lost both rounds, and scared Mom, Dad, Taylor, and Taylor’s friend Christian, when he yelled about it. The car had been pretty much silent to that point, but we were both bored. Apparently, I’m too good at reading him. Matt’s just funny like that, though. I’d been tired, but unable to nap, and unable to focus, but he made me laugh so hard I’m sure my face was red. He’s also been chilling out with his allergies. I had something with pistachios in it, but he wasn’t mad I ate it before we left. He seemed happy I made sure to wash my hands and rinse my mouth out, though. He’s come a long way from the anxiety he used to feel regarding anything that could cause a reaction. As long as we pick up our mess and let him know we had it, he doesn’t mind what we eat anymore, and it’s honestly a relief to see. I’m glad he’s learning to relax again. I get why he was so anxious about it, it is a life or death situation for him, but constantly being scared like that took a toll on him. He’s smiling more now that he’s been calming down and not stressing about it. I’m really proud of my brother, and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!!” I can’t either. Today is Matt’s 20th birthday. Happy birthday Matt!! Have a great day!! We love you!!