I spent more time with Uncle L.C than any of my other uncles. Some of that time was because he was my Dad's brother and his wife was my Mothers's sister - so we saw each other at both family events. But I also spent many weekends at his house playing why his daughters, so I saw him in a different way than at big family gatherings. He was not always home the entire time, because he was either working with his brothers, helping someone else, doing stuff for the church or off with his brothers doing something fun.
However, Uncle L.C. always seemed to be there for breakfast. Some weeknd mornings L.C. made us breakfast, others my Aunt Joann made it, and a few times we made our own bowls of cereal. On Saturdays, we typically had breakfast in our pajamas laughing like crazy at L.C. jokes. When his girls left the table to do theirmorning chores or get dressed, I either helped with the chores or moved closer to Uncle L.C. at the table. He was one of the few male adults who actully talked to me instead of around me. I think that is what made him my favorite uncle. Although I was more shy as a child than I am now; I was ok with him doing most of the talking, giving advice, joking, and me only talking if he asked a direct question. On Sundays, I often got to repeat some time with L.C. because I jumped up and got dressed before breakfast because my parents told me I should never be the reason my Uncle's family was late to church. Since we all went to the same church, I went home with my parents after church.
I am sure there were many other good times I could expound on. Like camping trips, riding motorbikes, theme parks, ice capade shows, Shakeys pizza, and more - the main memory is a life giving out love and laughter. We will miss him...
I want to say something about weekends with Aunt Joann too. When I helped her girls with their few room cleaning or dishwashing chores, we all got complimented on the excellent work cleaning up. Sometimes our reward was even ice cream in the midde of the day! She was and still is my most stylish aunt. Joann always knew the latest fashions and whatever she chose to wear looked good on her. She was such a great seamstress too! In addition to buying from boutique stores, she made some of hers and her daughters clothes. My Mom envied her matching girls outfits at Easter. I was always thrilled to get hand-me-downs from my cousins as the dresses were usually still in style and often looked new. Like her many sisters, she is a great example of God's love to everyone.
I promised in my first uncle post I would tell the other thing I remember about the day working at Uncle J.W.'s. After the work was done, we kids all piled into the cab of Daddy's truck. On the way home he told us "Kids, I'm proud of how you all acted today. My brothers said you all worked hard and did whatever you were told the first time without complaining or anything. Also, they said you had the best manners of any kids they have ever seen. I wanted you to know that they were bragging on you to me." This was unusaul as when we were younger, my Dad was more about correction than compliments. The boys were so thrilled with his words that as soon as we got home they ran into the house and all tried at once to tell Mom everything Dad had said. It seemed the lessons of please, thank you, your welcome, and chewing with your mouth closed were worth the trouble afterall. After seeing how we reacted, Dad began giving more "good job" compliments when we did something well. Dad also taught my brothers that they are supposed to open doors to let girls go first, if walking with a girl the boy goes on the side of the road to protect her from anything that might happen, and NEVER hit a girl.
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