I visited today with my niece’s husband, Chris Blackburn.

He was in Seymour, and will be again Thursday, with the Indiana Blood Center folks taking donations at Seymour High School’s annual blood drive.

 Does Chris being married to my niece make him my nephew? I don’t know. But he calls me Uncle Danny, which I like, so he certainly seems like my nephew. We always called our uncles Uncle Carl, Uncle Clyde, Uncle Bill and so on. Aunts, too, except they were’nt named Carl, Clyde or Bill.

It was odd seeing Chris on the job. Since the first time I met him at my brother’s house in Greenwood when he and Katie started dating in high school (or was it college?), my greatest image of him is of his hulking frame stretched out on the floor of some abandoned room or of his limbs dangling outside the comfy confines of a recliner. This guy’s big, and he likes to nap. Especially after eating. And before eating.

 But at Seymour High School today, he was on it. He was actaully standing. He was mixing it up with young people stopping to give blood. They, not Chris, got to recline. Some even got to stretch out on gym mats. He was joking with those giving blood, asking how their day was going and thanking them for showing up and donating such a precious resource.

He didn’t seem anything like the big bruiser that was trying to muscle in on the affections of my little Katie all those years ago. But while their relationship developed into a marriage, Katie’s affections for her favorite uncle — hey, I have to be, don’t I? — haven’t dwindled. Chris has grown on me, too, and that’s pretty nice.

Although our visit was brief — I didn’t want to get in the way of his work – I’m glad I stopped by. It was interesting seeing him in a setting other than the occasional family get-together.

If you’re interested in helping the Seymour High School blood drive, Chris and his co-workers with Indiana Blood Center will be outside the gym again today, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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