One of my favorite pictures in my childhood photo album is of me and my brother and older cousin Cathleen, all hunched down on our knees, watching excitedly out the window of the Portland Airport, our little hands against the glass, watching for the airplane. The next photo on the page is of my aunt and uncle, faces wet with tears, holding the most teeny tiny miniature dark-skinned baby I’ve ever seen. He was snuggled in a blanket, sleeping soundly. Baby Scott was his name, and we loved him in an instant.
I love having a diverse family, and if there ever was one, we have it. My three maternal cousins are all 6’5″-6’7″ guys, towering giants, along with my beautiful exotic-looking Aunt Linda who looks tiny next to them at only 6’1″. Her husband is also 6’5″, carries a gun at all times, and rides a Harley. My Dad and Mom are fairly average, and my brother and I are also, the blond-haired, blue-eyed, mid-sized type. My uncle’s wife is Japanese, from Hawaii. And their two children, Cathleen from Bangladesh, and Scott adopted from Calcutta, are beautiful, handsome, and dark as night. This never seemed unusual to me, but looking back at extended family photos, we look a lot like a United Colors of Benetton ad. I remember one time when I was very small, I sat with my cousin Scott and we ate chocolate chip icecream. “Scott!” I exclaimed happily, “I’m like the vanilla and you’re like chocolate chips!” My mom was embarrassed but we laughed and laughed, so happy at our discovery.
So speaking of my wonderful cousin Scott–who is now all grown up–, he teaches a ragtag bunch of 4th graders down in Las Vegas, as well as serves as a sports coach. I just found out about this fun litle article, written about him, so as a proud cousin I had to post it myself. Way to go, Scott! So proud of you and how you make a difference in the lives of those kids each and every day.
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“We are 5th graders at Ollie Detwiller Elementary School, and we wanted to nominate a 4th grade teacher here at our school as our hero. Mr. Zyp has been at the school for 4 years, and he is a great teacher. They say that the principal gives him all the kids that are hard to handle, because he has a way of keeping everyone involved and learning and not causing trouble. He is a great teacher, but we want to nominate him for what he does for us after school. Mr. Zyp is the football and basketball coach, and he usually coaches all of us by himself. Everyone plays, and everyone learns, and if it wasn’t for the sports programs that he runs, I think we’d all be in trouble. We win alot, too, which is also good. So, here’s a picture of our coach, Mr. Zyp, and he would really like it if you could say these things about him on your web page. Thanks.The Ollie Detwiller Otters