Uncle Corey

The man underneath the impeccable coaching persona

Uncle Corey and Aunt Mandy

Seven months into the ‘18 Uncles’ journey, sitting next to my Uncle Corey in a bright high school gym, sipping a dollar-fifty Powerade over the cheers from fans and the squeak of basketball sneakers on a glossy wood floor, I realized the time and place I’m hanging out with each uncle could be a story onto itself. Every interaction is a window into who they are. 

I drove around with Uncle Wally the trucker, went fishing with Uncle Russell, flew across the Atlantic with adventurous Uncle Dave, and worked on boats and took a road trip with Uncle Jeff—a roadie that he volunteered for to help me out—classic Jeff. With my Uncle Corey, I attended my first high school volleyball, basketball, and hockey games in over a decade. We also took two trips to Eagle River, Wisconsin to watch his son play hockey, had dinner in a nice restaurant, and took three long saunas. They’re all very ‘Corey’ activities. 

But despite that time together, I struggled to get ‘an angle’ on him. Staring in frustration at (real) notes like, ‘We both like tacos. He enjoys pistachio-flavored desserts and Aunt Mandy’s carrot cake,’ I found myself wishing he had some crazy hobby like caring for a terrarium filled with tarantulas that he affectionately named and fed live mice every few weeks. That’d be an easy post to write: ‘My Spider-Obsessed Uncle.’ 

Of course, he’s in the Michigan High School Coaches Hall of Fame, and I could easily fill four pages on the athletic accomplishments of ‘My Sports-Obsessed Uncle.’ 

But I wanted to go deeper and write about the man behind the impeccable coaching persona, the husband, the father, the brother… the uncle.