Uncle Rob Memories

Robert Manning is an amazing man. Uncle Rob has always been someone I looked up to. From the time I was a little girl, me and my cousins Natalie and Jennifer idolized him. He was the fun, cool uncle that lived in really exciting places and traveled around the world. Things I could only dream about as a little girl in Utah. I still remember when he bought every single one of me and my cousins (16 of us) a Houston Astros t-shirt. We loved those shirts. He was so thoughtful and would take time to talk to each of us individually. What grown-up cares about a kid? It made me feel like a million bucks, especially since I never felt cool or pretty with my huge glasses and awkwardness. He was the best. In high school I always wanted to spend my money to go see Uncle Rob in New York. My parents didn't think that was the best use of time or money and never let me do those types of big things. In college, money was tight enough that I couldn't ever go. Once when we were interning in Michigan during the fall of 2000, Brian and I planned a trip to Niagara Falls and Palmyra, New York over Thanksgiving weekend. I couldn't believe I was going to actually be in New York. We were both really excited and looked at the chance of going to see Rob while we were "so close" but we quickly realized just how big the state of New York really was. We barely had time to get to Niagara Falls and NYC was another 400 miles farther. That was a huge let down. We didn't make it to visit Rob that year. After we graduated school and worked a few years, Ben came along. I wasn't working anymore and Brian had a two week trip to DC for work training. I came along and on the weekend between the two weeks of work, we drove up to NYC to visit Rob. He was an amazing host. What type of guy lets you come visit and stay in his place and he stays with a friend so you can have his place all to yourself? The entire weekend he told us what to see, how to get there, when to take a cab, escorted us on the subway and to the sights all over the city. We had an amazing weekend. He even babysat Ben for us so we could go to a show on Broadway. We saw Phantom of the Opera, which is an old show, but one neither of us had seen before. It was cool to see it on Broadway. The next night we saw Stomp and took Ben with us. It was fantastic! We had so much fun seeing where Rob lived and spending a few days with him. It was my birthday while we were there, so he took us to a cupcake shop. He bought me the most ornately decorated cupcake I've ever seen. It was awesome! That trip was what I think was the real beginning of our special relationship. Soon we moved to DC and Rob was ready to change jobs. He flew into DC for an interview to settle the details before he accepted and relocated to Chicago. We met him after his interview and spent the rest of the day with him at our apartment before he flew back home the same night. Once he was settled into his new position, one of his projects was here in the DC area. Every time he flew in to check on the status of the hotel remodel he was supervising we got to meet up with him for lunch or dinner. He happened to be around the week we decided to announce the pregnancy with Maddie so he was the first one we told. I sort of felt bad since social rules say you MUST tell your mother first. I've not really ever been into rules, so I was happy to share our special news with Rob. Rob and my family continued to have a special relationship. Once when we went to dinner after Rob finished working at the Hyatt near Reagan Airport Ben wore an orange and navy blue outfit. The next time he came to town, he insisted that he wear his "Uncle Rob clothes." The next several visits he had to wear that outfit. He would get so excited on days I would tell him Rob was coming. He'd run to Rob when he saw him and give him huge hugs and loved to see Rob. It was a sad day when Rob had to move from Chicago to San Francisco and passed the DC project on to someone else. It meant the end of our frequent visits. We miss Rob.