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| My last uncle passed away Monday. He was 81. He was in good health, considering his age, and getting around well. He told people for many decades that I was his favorite niece, then would chuckle every time at his own punch line: I was his only niece. He told lots of stories. He'd remember everything you did bad as a toddler and tell you when you were a teen. He had a laugh all the time. We loved to see him coming. he was a decent cook, and worked in a grocery store his whole life. He was in the navy as a youngster, working in undersea demolition for the big war ships in icy water. That enabled him to travel the world and gain discipline and a good work ethic. He worked a paper route as a boy on foot, until he could buy his own second hand bike. He and my mom were born into a working class family which quickly became poor. My grandfather had a debilitating disease and survived only because a major university hospital was nearby. He was their guinea pig, and after many operations and trial medications, he not only survived, but went back to work. During this time, the family had to move to cheaper quarters and Grandma had to go to work at the sewing factory. Mom and her brother knew what hunger was first hand. The baby couldn't remember such things, and life was a little better when he was older, but not much. They would get broken toys from The Salvation Army for Christmas. One year, their only gift was a piggy bank from the local bank. There were no after-school programs back then, no nursery school or public kindergarten. Mom was his babysitter, but she was only four years older. He grew up criticized by others who had more, and spent a lot of time unsupervised. As a working man, he went through some bad times when the kids were small. My father, who was poor, helped him out. Then his hard work began to pay off. Eventually, he lost a step-son, a son, his parents, his first wife, then his nephews, one only 19, his sister and his brother. But he persevered. He never let his hardships make him bitter or resentful. He kept a positive outlook. He kept on keeping on.Nothing could break him or get him down. He responded with humor and love. He loved children, his own, his grand children, his great grandchildren and other people's babies. Even the customers' kids in the grocery store called him Uncle Wally. It takes a special person to make children love him (or her). Life's circumstances couldn't hold him down. His heart was too big.Now we have one less person to share the joy and give happiness to the world. |
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