Veterans' Day Tribute to My Wonderful Uncles

(I've been saving this post I wrote a long time ago for Veterans Day.)

This summer my mom wrote about her sister, (my Aunt Rhonwen) and Uncle Jack stopping by to see them there in Missouri.

My parents, aunt and uncle were reminiscing about long years ago, and came to find out that Uncle Jack (his nickname) went into the navy about the same time as my dad went into the air force.

(This is Timmy checking a beehive at a friend's place I took him to)

Jack visited 30 countries, and then met my aunt Rhonwen while she was a nurse for his mother in a hospital. He was apprenticed as a meat cutter, did meat cutting for a while, then moved to Florida where he ran a lawn care business for years. Then he and my aunt kept a motel successfully for 20 years. My aunt Rhonwen worked as a nurse until a few years ago. Now they enjoy taking their motor home and going traveling sometimes.

My  mom said how wonderful family ties are! This is the second time Rhonwen and Jack have stopped in there at Missouri to visit my folks.  

So that set me to thinking about my other uncles, too. I think Timmy takes after the Morley side of the family, with the same gifts and creativity that his grandad Morley and two great uncles had. 

My Uncle Warren, who passed away some years back, lived to be 85 years old. He was 14 years older than my dad. Uncle Warren was in the army in World War II, and worked as an ambulance driver. 

He rarely talked about it. I can only imagine the sights and sounds that he heard during that time.

Back home after the war, he married, had four children, and worked at a factory called the Cooper Bessemer in Grove City, PA. That is where my other uncle, Rod, worked as well.
Uncle Warren would ride his motorcycle to work and then come home after 3 o'clock and work in his garden or other hobbies, such as raising bees and beagles and homing pigeons.
We seldom went to visit Uncle Warren and Aunt MaryLou without coming home with fresh produce from their lush garden or a pigeon to keep or some nugget of new knowledge.

Then there was my Uncle Rod, seven years older than my dad. When Rod was about 11 years old, he was run over by a vehicle and was in the hospital for about a year. He feels it was his mother (my grandma) and her soups and constant care that brought him through. He has limped on a stiff leg throughout the rest of his life, but my uncle Rod was definitely beloved by us children! His stiff leg didn't hold him down. He worked at the factory all his life till retirement, and now at 89 years old, (at the writing of this post), he was still walking a mile or two or three every day, stiff leg or not.

 He always had a twinkle in his eye, always paid attention to each of us children, teased us, played with us, showed us his hobbies (making lamps decorated with the cutest miniature outhouses or cabins), and gave us rides on his horse when we were young. He treated his wife Barb (whom he called "Barbie Doll") with great love and respect even when she was so crippled with arthritis that she was in a wheelchair, and passed away probably around 25 or 30 years ago.

He has been an incredible example of overcoming one's disability and going on cheerfully with life.

These are my uncles, two of whom served in our nation's military, and with whom our family kept in touch while we were growing up,

and still try to keep in touch with. 

When one of my uncles ended up in the hospital recently, my mom notified all of us and I for one sent cards and news.

I remember clear back when I was young that my  mom used to write a letter to her parents every week on Tuesday. Our family tried to go visit our grandparents almost every year in Florida whenever it was possible. Ever since her parents' death, my  mom has kept in touch with her sisters by card and phone. I am so thankful that I have a mom who values family and keeps in touch with them--

and every once in a while reminds us all of the stories of our heritage--

including two of our uncles who, along with my father, served our country during World War II or the Korean War.  

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