Our Matt

When I moved 'up north' to go to university I didn't actually know that many people from Yorkshire as the other students I lived and went to institute with where from all over the country.  It wasn't until I switched courses and went to Sheffield Hallam University that I started to notice particular phrases being used, like "I tret me sen" which means "I treated myself", or "causey" which means "footpath".  But perhaps the most common one is when they use "our" in front of someones name, which means that the person referred to is family.  So "Our Matt" is Jon's brother.

Matt is older than Jon and still lives with his parents and pays board.  For this he is constantly being ribbed by Jon and me (and I have to admit that I am the worst).  We tell him he's got it so easy and use the phrase "Put his board up!" a lot.  I keep not so subtly telling Matt about houses and flats that are for rent or sale (two of which were on our street), or trying to point out single ladies he might be interested in and generally giving him a hard time and he takes it all in good grace.

But I don't think Matt knows just how much we love him!  Matt is one of the nicest, kindest people you will ever meet.  He's the sort of person that you can call on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of the world cup because the IKEA furniture you bought and tried to put up by yourself is falling down and you need him to come and fix it (he did that for my friend Sarah).  He's the person that when you're ill at work and you need to be picked up and have your car taken home, he'll come and do it.  That happened twice, once was at 3am.  He does everything that he should and more.  If you need anything Matt is the one you call. 

He's a lovely uncle too.  He comes round just to see the children sometimes and they love it!  Hayley adores him and calls him 'Culmatt' because she can't saw the 'un' bit of 'uncle'.  When we had Hayley he bought us our pushchair and when we had Austin he bought us a new nappy bag as the one we had was falling apart.  And on Sunday we went to a family wedding he had Austin for virtually the whole afternoon and didn't complain once.  He plays with them and pays them attention.  And not just my children but his other nieces and nephews too, they all love him to bits.

And he's a fantastic brother-in-law.  I remember at our wedding he was the best man and in his speech he said if Jon ever hurt me he'd break his legs, and he meant it.  When I had to get my car serviced he kept me company all day while I waited at Jon's parents for it to be finished, even though he probably had much better things to do.  He makes an awesome banoffe pie and always offers to make one (or two) if we're ever having some sort of function. 

We give him a hard time because we love him, and we suggest houses on our street because we'd like it if he lived there.  We try to set him up with girls we know because he would be a great husband and father.  Matt is the best brother anyone could hope for.