My uncle was a very militant
person; he joined the navy soon after his eighteenth birthday. He was between
5’10” and 6’ tall, medium build, hair was short and always combed, he wore
thick coke-bottle glasses. His name Jack, Uncle Jack was my father’s brother.
Uncle Jack was known to all of us little kids as mean uncle Jack, it felt like
he never smiled or was happy for that matter, we were always in trouble it
seemed.
Uncle Jack was a strict and
reserved man, he never had any biological children, but he had 3 step children
and fifteen nieces and nephews. I guess now that he adored children because he
always had a house full of them. My Uncle Jack would come over every baseball
and Football game and watch with my dad. He would be at every birthday party
and holiday that was something he was very good about. He would watch me and my brothers and our
cousins, he would have 3 or more of us at a time. He lived in Indianola tribal
housing and had lots of neighbors that all of us knew, when you are tribal you
know everyone; mostly because they are all your relatives or close to your
family. We usually had a good time at uncle Jacks, yes we all did get yelled at
and even received a whooping for acting out, but mostly a nice time over there.
Even though he was strict we really had a lot of childish freedom. We had set
times to be back at his house for dinner or lights out; we could watch TV or
movies. Some of my favorite memories are the movies that he had for us to
watch, and why I have deep appreciation for very unusual or weird things. I and
most of my cousins saw a lot of Jim Henson’s work outside of The Muppets; I loved
The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and the TV show Dinosaurs. It was at his house I
was introduced to these movies and shows that are now my favorites. I also
first saw Disney’s Nightmare before Christmas with him and my Aunt; this all
explains my very different interests in dark movies.
Now to the good stuff. I was about
six years old, it was around November 1997. I was sick, and it was cold
outside. I remember that the leaves were changing and falling, the air was
brisk and I was HOT! I had about a 104.7 temp and (I have massive ear problems,
what a thing to be stuck with) so naturally I had a double ear infection to top
off the fever and chills, to put it out there I was miserable! Oddly I remember
my dad was the one who was taking me to the doctor, he and my Uncle Jack had
made plans to go either Lowes or Home Depot I cannot recall which, but I was
coming too.
My dad had a black two door ford
long bed truck, the seat was a bench seat and had to pull down seats in the
back. In 1997 having a full back four point harness car seat was not required
(I don’t even think that was a thing back then) like it is today. So there I am
in my small booster with a long fat arm trapping me in the seat wedged between
my dad and my uncle Jack. We had to go to the doctor’s office which mine was
located in Kingston, I remember the drive and the remorse that both my dad and uncle
felt for me that day. I could barely hear them talking, my ears were so muffled
and plugged that I really could not understand what they even said. It was like
the teacher in Peanuts wah, wah, waahh, wahhhh. My dad dressed me that day so of
Couse I was wearing my giant purple coat and head to toe thermals, with a pink
and purple shirt and matching pants (at least I matched! Even then I was a
diva) and my pink furry lined boots. Nothing was going to make me cold wearing
all that. Oddly enough this was the only time in my life that I had short hair
so he didn’t have to bother with that except I had to have a bow (of course,
can you say diva!). It felt as if the drive took forever, but I know that it
was twenty minutes or so. When we arrived I was seen very quickly and of course
to pour salt on the already smarting wound my father is notorious for asking
the doctor “is Brittany up to date on all her shots?” oh yay my dad should get
the world’s best dad award. I know that he was always making sure I didn’t need
extra doctor visits and un-needed illnesses beyond the common cold or the
seasonal flu. After my worry about needles (since I can hear the word needle
through doors down) was ceased due to I was all up to date (yay!) I had to endure
something else I hated equally. Since the age of three months till now I have
had more ear infections I lost count. One thing I cannot stand is ear drops,
but having an ear infection as a child you have to endure them. I protested and
tried to bite the doctor I was forcibly detained and given liquid hell. Now the
tears have subsided and the popping in my ears as slowing stopped I could
finally hear everything. Walking out of the doctor’s office after getting a
dose of Tylenol and some antibiotics I was given the green light ride along to
the store.
Know we are off to Silverdale to go
to the boring store. After about two hours of being pushed around the hardware
store looking at everything from twenty different sized screws to new lawn
mowers we were finally leaving for home. Once we got to our house my dad was
unloading the truck and my uncle had been watching me doodle on the paper my
dad had given me at the store he noticed I couldn’t draw a star, even though I made
my best efforts as shown on the sad piece of paper. My uncle grabbed the pen
and said “would you like to learn how to draw a star?” me of course nodding my
head in shame that my miss matched triangles could not cut the rug as a star. He
started to draw; he started at one point then continued up to another point and
back down, not lifting the pen from the paper. He finished moving the pen up
down and side to side, he finished drawing the star.
I grabbed the pen and started
tracing the drawing that he had finished and after about four or five tries I had
done it, I had successfully drawn a star. From that day one, I have always associated
drawing a star with that cold day that my uncle Jack taught me to draw a star.
What I learned from this experience
now that I am old enough to understand who my uncle was, that he was a nice
man. Yes he was gruff and rough around the edges, but he was also loving and
gentle. Now I know that he did help shape the person I am today, from my
passion for the unusual movies and darkness, to drawing stars. I wish he was
still here to see how I turned out, and to see how well I can draw a star now.