-> our uncle henry just went in the heart hospital a few hrs ago, so i am dropping off the dog boys to head over & wait w/mama while aunty rita holds his hand & no doubt keeps him laughing while he waits for the doc. why am i writing this? well, i hope you know someone like uncle henry. and i'm likely stalling... uncle henry has always been 120 lb dripping wet; i am an amazon compared to him. he's been pickled to the gills since before he grew a whisker; he's smart as a whip, smarter w/every belt he takes, w/a memory that matches mama's (but mom doesn't partake of the vine), a fortitude that's always caused me both admiration & envy. he & his wife, aunty rita, weave wild blue tales so creatively, rapidly, & w/such profane pleasure, they'd make redd foxx blush. small & brown, aging, jack spratt & his wife, they draw crowds w/their ribald & wild repartee. they are just plain fun, tho sometimes terrifying fun, like drinking fun can be: the rita & henry show can make a person want to hide at times. for the most part, tho, they are ambassadors for the human race, which is how i read people like them aptly described in a NYer one time. i guess bubba - president clinton, every married woman's "freeby," as our cousin, aunty rita's daughter, described him - is the same. such folks make a person feel happier to be alive, wilder, more mythical, more included, braver, more pleasured to just draw breath. you can tell them dang, i stepped in dog crap, i ruined my new shoes, & w/in minutes they'll have spun that sucker into a gut-splitting epic that from then on is forever & always family lore... & you don't feel embarrassed: you feel like paul bunyan, like annie oakley, like zeus. :)
-> uncle henry was on a nuke sub for 30 yrs. then he worked as a shut-down operator for power plants for 20 yrs. the devil knows what he's got glowing & growing in his system. i just know his fierce life force has carried him much farther than such a seemingly-fragile frame would seem to be able to endure...
-> on another note, i did my library school HW today, a podcast about mr lincoln & video of "a boy named sue". if johnny cash & president lincoln aren't your true-blue heroes, well, i don't think you'd be here reading this, actually, so here is a link: http://ynnej.pbwiki.com (look on the right side for titles... both were created for mid-school kids w/hope to inspire them...)
-> please say a prayer or send a kind thought to our uncle henry. he deserves the goodwill of the universe, as do all such leaders & inspirers...
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