What’s an Uncle Anyway?!?

I have some really interesting family members, and as I think about it this morning most of the really interesting ones are uncles.  I shared some time ago in church about my uncle Sandy, who barked at squirrels, encouraged his drivers ed students to do cookies, and generally bucked any system he was ever a part of.  I loved Uncle Sandy because he was different.  My home was one of conformity and normality, but going to visit uncle Sandy meant that we got to help make maple syrup, shoot his many guns, go off roading in his old International Scout, and do any number of other things that weren’t a part of our normal everyday life.  Uncle Sandy even Got saved in a unique way.  in Kansas I believe it was, trying to push his fully loaded motorcycle to a tire shop for repair.  the presence of God fell, and a longstanding skeptic became a believer in God.  I’m not sure Uncle Sandy ever quite believed in the church, but he believed in God, and that is what really counts.

Last night I learned that another one of my very interesting Uncles passed away.  This time it was Uncle Butch, who many knew as Schrec (not to be confused with the movie character Shrek, although there were a few similarities).  I only got to see uncle Butch when we would go to Pennsylvania once a year to the place where my dad grew up.  My dad’s dad passed away when he was very young and his older sister married uncle Butch shortly thereafter.  Uncle Butch became a little like a father to my dad, and his sons were more like his brothers than his nephews, so Uncle Butch holds a very special place in Dad’s heart.  Butch was a big guy and couldn’t get around very well, but he would still go with us to shoot hoops and would stand at the top of the key and shoot his two handed set shot.  He was also known for instigating the pranck that left several of us a little flatter than normal.  If you laid on the floor to watch a football game with uncle Butch around you could pretty much bet that he would be yelling fumble and everyone would pile on top of you.  He also loved the cheerleaders, and whenever they would appear on the screen he would hoot and holler and then wisper to us kids…”don’t tell Emalouise” (his wife).  Uncle butch loved to go to the coffeeshop and sit with the guys catching up on all the latest news, and I think that is where my dad learned this habit as well.  We loved to go tot the store with Butch because he always bought candy, and when he couldn’t make the walk to the store any longer, he would give us money and ask us to go pick up things for him, and of course there was extra for some candy.  Uncle Butch will be missed by both me and my dad, and our deepest sympathies go to his family. 

As I look at my remaining uncles, I fear that the most interesting of them have passed.  Their differences added spice to life, and I appreciated them for that.  They allowed me to see that God didn’t make all of us from the same mould, and that is ok.