GUP

I kept being amused by Steven Rowley’s novel The Guncle this week. 

Funny as it may sound, the fiction character name refers to a 43-year-old former sitcom star Patrick. Or else, you can call him Gay Uncle Patrick. Or, GUP, for short. 

Patrick had to be a guardian of two children, a niece and a nephew, who kept acting out. They were either using outdoor voices inside or asking for YouTube, even on an airplane. 

After the nine-year-old niece Maisie refused to order off the kid’s menu – because she said she’s not a kid – Patrick set his own menu down and reminded Maisie of something wise. 

"Don’t be in such a hurry to be older. You’re going to spend the rest of your life wishing you were younger."

Although the last sentence doesn’t count as one of "Guncle Rules", that’s certainly a truism. So true. You don’t know what you’re missing till it’s gone.

Patrick, as a matter of fact, learned that the hard way, when he wrote a letter to his partner only after he was killed by a drunk driver.