I’ve got 4 brothers. It’s awesome. I am so glad that my parents kept having kids.

Joey is brother number 3 in the Ball clan. I was just about to write that he is the most interesting of all 5 of us but then I remembered the other three. Each bro. is unique and interesting. If we didn’t all posess the Ball nose, eyes, chin, walk, and disposition you might not even know that we’re related.

Joey recently came to me with a cool business idea. It was a scheme to build bee boxes and harvest honey to sell. He’d be an excellent bee’r

I asked the most normal questions regarding being a bee’r

“Don’t you get stung a lot if you’re a bee’r?”

“Ya, probably” He said laughing “But you get used to it”

“Where do you get the bees?

“They sell them. The best bees are Italian bees.”

“Why are the best bees Italian?”

“Who knows. But they are.”

“What if you don’t want to buy the bees?”

“You can find a wild hive and cut it down. If you cut it right you can drop it straight into a box.”

He demonstrated the act of climbing up a tree and hacking a bee hive with a machete.

After I stopped laughing I asked one more question.

“Where do you keep the bees?”

“That’s the tricky part dude. I mean you could just put them somewhere vacant. But it’s best if you have a huge yard. The problem is that neighbors get funny about having thousands of bees in the neighborhood.”

“I’ll bet they do.”

Years ago I moved from Santa Barbara to Boise. Joey rode in the cab of the Uhaul with me. He and I had some unforgettable conversations. I asked his what his favorite kind of car was.

“Porsche, definitely Porsche, and um… also Ferarri, Jag, Mercedes, BMW, and Dodge.”

I gave Joey a list of questions to ask about himself.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a: Astronaut
My favorite music is:  U2
My favorite TV show is: Big Bang Theory
My favorite thing to do is: Mountain bike or play soccer
My favorite meal is: ribs
I am most irritated by: when my kids wake me up at night
I am most uncomfortable when: writing things down infront of people
My proudest/fondest memory was:  when I married the love of my life.
My last personal purchase was:  shorts from Cabelas
The purpose of life is: to be tested and tried, to serve faithfully, and to return to my Father in Heaven

If I had to describe Joey in a list of adjectives the first ones to come to mind are:

• Loyal
• Friendly
• Generous
• Sincere
• Excitable
• Thoughtful
• Quick
• Unique
• Good
• True

He’s an awesome dude. Ask any soul who knows him.