memories of an Uncle

after hanging up the phone yesterday in a brief conversation with my dad, I began, as usual, to make dinner. In the kitchen, my mind went to my late Uncle, who passed away this past week due to cancer. I knew him mostly as a child. Once I became grown and married, I mostly had communication with him at Christmastime. As I let myself go back and recall memories of my “Ankle Buzz” from many many summers and Christmases I spent in Louisiana at my Grandmother‘s home, I reminded myself that my memories would be completely different than memories, say, as my dad would have of his older brother. I also wondered if my dad even knew I had these memories. They are quite random as memories of a childhood can be.
To recall a few …
.. I recall a certain Christmas gift I received at my dear Grandmother’s house. It was a drawing pad that was black and when you pressed on it, the rainbow colors appeared. “Ankle Buzz” as he loved to say to me, loved how this made an instant rainbow and smiled.. just like dad.
…on a family trip.. for us that meant ten hours from wherever we lived… we stayed at his house.. a few streets away from my grandmother’s house…. and I remember he wasn’t there… but he left Captain Crunch cereal in the house knowing I was going to be there. I’d never had Captain Crunch, but to this day think its fabulous. I remember swimming in his new pool.. it was a vinyl one and when you stepped on the edge of the slope it went straight to the deep end.
…he loved to fly… he even got his license to fly and flew my mom, my little sister, and me either to or from Louisiana to Oklahoma. He got the biggest kick out of me freaking out in the co-pilots seat when we took our first turn…to the right… ( I was on the right…). no one told me a small plane would turn literally to the side and you’d see the ground out of your window… he just smiled…. just like dad…
…he played “hangman” with me on my Grandmother’s chalkboard hanging in the garage. Sometimes the game would go on for days.. right beside the “reminder’ notes for the store..he’d jot down “buy more beer” He didn’t live there, but lived close enough to come over to his parents house a lot while I was there.
…he loved nice things… I remember going to a mall with my Grandmother to “go shoppin” but first, we had to get “Ankle” Buzz’s Rolex fixed. The jewelry store there was right across from the toy store and was filled with clocks and jewelry.
…when John and I got engaged at age 22, Buzz gave us the plane tickets to fly to our Honeymoon. … months later at the wedding reception while John and I were thanking people for coming to our wedding, Buzz slipped two $100 bills in John’s pocket…. we felt so rich at that moment! I don’t know if John and I had ever held $200 at one time.
….Buzz always seemed to marvel at how he still had a head full of hair.. my dad full of brains…
…Buzz loved all things that could “go”… he had his plane, he had a sail boat at one time, and he had a fast classic car. I even recall an old black and white photo of a young “Buzz” pulling a wagon with a little blonde boy in the wagon… my dad.
I love you, Dad, and I know you loved your brother. Uncle Buzz was a happy man from the eyes of a child. I will always remember my Ankle Buzz with his happy eyes.. just like yours.

This last picture is one I took just a year ago at my grandmother’s funeral. I didn’t catch it in time to get a second picture. But usually when you saw my Uncle smile, his eyes looked shut in a lot of pictures…. just like dad…
About two weeks before my Uncle passed away, my sister and I both mailed Buzz a card along with a Holy card of the Divine Mercy Image. We both reminded Buzz and his wife of the love Jesus has for them. I am sure if Buzz got our cards, he saw those words under the image, “Jesus, I trust in You”