Dad grew up on the adjoining farm, another very small farm which included a very small two bedroom farmhouse with a very large family. Grandpa farmed and Grandma did the cooking and cleaning. They worked hard, just as everyone did back then. No modern conveniences. Just the same they reared eleven children. Even though Grandpa thought eleven children was not enough, Grandma certainly did and so eleven it was. She was simply an amazing woman, a God-fearing amazing woman who loved all her children.
Out of those eleven children there were only three girls. Oh My! It has been said that my grandmother could identify each of her sons by the sound of their footsteps as they walked through the kitchen late at night. I venture to say she really did not sleep until she had heard each and every son’s footsteps.
Today, for the first time in about a million years I had the opportunity to visit with the second to youngest uncle. Ornery should have been the middle name given to each of my uncles at birth, each and every one of them! As he was growling about not seeing me in such a very long time, I finally interrupted by saying “If you have missed me so much and would stop growling and instead give me a hug”. He did give me a hug, all the while continuing to growl a bit longer about my being away all these years.
The two youngest uncles are only about ten years older than all of us older cousins and were still living at home for a few years after many of us were born. I will never forget riding in their cars, sitting in the backseat leaning over the front seat as we sped over the gravel roads. seat belts anyone? Were we flying? It certainly felt like we might actually have lifted off the ground a time or two. I do recall the thrill of lifting off the seat on more than one occasion. I’m certain my parents knew we were with them, but did they know just how fast we were traveling, on gravel roads no less.
Spending a few days each summer at Grandpa and Grandma’s always included interesting experiences especially while these two youngest uncles were still living at home, siblings who had to share just about everything, including dress shoes or so it seemed. The youngest uncle was upset with this growling uncle that I speak of. It seems he had borrowed his dress shoes and had failed to mention it. The youngest uncle discovered this while getting ready for a date. Boy, was he mad and boy, did he give this uncle a chewing out!
Whatever girl cousins were staying, along with my sister and me, all shared a hide-a-bed sofa in the living room. Privacy was not considered essential for little girls, pre-puberty as we all were at the time. Taking a bath in a horse trough in the backyard on summer afternoons was just normal. Yes, my grandparent’s house had a bathroom by this time, but maybe Grandma thought it a much more refreshing experience for us to bath in the out of doors. Really I expect the cleaning up was much quicker this way, she certainly had enough to do as it was. The lack of privacy must not have been a concern in her eyes either, as I remember at least one of these two uncles coming into the backyard where we were bathing and having a casual conversation with Grandma while we scrubbed our bare little bodies. This was just the way it was, sort of like stepping back in time a bit, whenever we visited our grandparents.
And this is just the way all my uncles were, and especially this growling uncle. So even though he growled all the way through our short welcoming home encounter, growling is his mode of operation. I already knew this and so also knew how to play along. And I knew he was glad to see me. I also realize he has many fond memories of my childhood, many I am sure I do not even remember. So I am just glad he was glad to see me.
As he left the house he growled his parting comment to me “See you later Ugly”. Yes, that’s my uncle.
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