Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Wistful Wednesday: Two Uncles

My parents come from large families.  Since my Dad has eleven brothers and two sisters I have many Uncles.

George_and_Arnold_1978 

This must have been taken at some family gathering.  Cousin Verniel took the photo and shared it with me.

Uncle George on the left and Uncle Arnold on the right….looks like they brought out some sauna dressing room benches into the yard.  Looks like they were at Uncle Ervin’s place just from the lay of the land.  Late on summer evenings that woods would be filled with fireflies.

Uncle George was son number eight and Uncle Arnold was child number thirteen and son number twelve.  My Dad was son number ten.

Uncle George was a farmer and a fixer.  A piece of baling twine could be used to fix many things.  He was a kind, kind man.  He married Aunt Grace and together they merged her girls (she was widowed early in life) with four more children that they would have together.  I always considered the older girls “real” cousins…one day one of them said to me “BUT I am not a real cousin.”  Maybe not to everyone…but to me they were “real.” One was four years and one was two years of age when their Mom married Uncle George…so he was the only father they ever knew and they called him Dad.  

Uncle Arnold was a farmer and a carpenter, he could build just about anything. He was a wonderful gentleman who always had a kind word or two.  He and his wife Sharon have five sons.  I know one reasonably well, the others I don’t know at all. They lived on the farm where my grandparents raised all their children, now their oldest son lives there.

This photo was taken in 1978.  Uncle George would die in 1997 from cancer at the age of 74.  Uncle Arnold would die in 1991 from a heart attack at the age of 59.  Both of their wives are still living. 

My grandparents raised a wonderful bunch of boys and girls.  They were all hard working law abiding, welcoming, kind, honest people.   There wasn’t one I didn’t like or admire for some quality.  Not a carouser in the bunch….although they could make lots of noise at a couple of Shivarees I attended when I was little.

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22 comments:

Kathy said...

To pass at 59 from a heart attack was awfully young!

PS...I love your blog! I don't comment much but I look forward to reading it everyday.

Anonymous said...

They each sound like wonderful men. I enjoyed the old photo.

linda m said...

Your family sounds a lot like mine, except for the size (mine was small). Thanks for sharing. Love the old photos.

DJan said...

I love to learn about your family and to know relatives you remember but are gone already. I am almost as old as Uncle George now and realize that it's impossible for me to die young any more. :-)

Anonymous said...

Very interesting post. Genealogy and family history is interesting. Love the baling twine creativity and the kindness of a blended family.

Anonymous said...

I have often wondered how those ladies managed with those very large families. They had little to work with such as washing machines and dryers! They must have been working from dawn till evening every day to get things done.

Shirley H.

Linda Kay said...

My grandparents on my dad's side of the family both came from large German families. They were lovely people and we had great times at reunions.

Patsy said...

You needed large family's to help work the farm and it was a blessing to have so many boys.
It was nice to have a couple of girls to help mother.

Mac n' Janet said...

Wow, that was a large family. My Dad was one of 5, 3 boys, 2 girls. I knew one of my uncles fairly well, he's still alive at nearly 80 and the others not at all. I knew my Aunts, but distantly, one is in her 80's and still alive. I know none of my cousins from my Dad's family, isn't that sad.

Far Side of Fifty said...

That is sad, you should look some of them up and pay them a visit! :)

Anonymous said...

Its nice to have those family memories!

Tired Teacher said...

I don't know many of my cousins, but I was close to all of my aunts and uncles. Sadly only two aunts are still living.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

I enjoyed reading about your relatives. It sounds like your uncles were fine men. Your family reminds me of mine, except it was my grandparents rather than my parents that had such large families. I loved visiting my great aunts and uncles. Now they are all gone, of course, and my remaining aunt and uncle passed away last September. I sure miss having those precious family members to visit. It's wonderful to have the memories!

Primitive Stars said...

Such large family's were great, always visiting to do. Great old photo, Blessings Francine.

Red said...

That was some family. Grandma and grandpa did a super job of raising their kids. I would think the older children did most of the parenting of the younger children.

lisa said...

Oh yes, baling twine! That is always on hand around here. I can't imagine having that many children, two was plenty for me!

Henny Penny said...

They look like kind hard working men. Reminds me of old pictures of my daddy's family.

Linda Reeder said...

"Salt of the earth" would seem to apply to these folks you get to call family.

Intense Guy said...

My dad was an only child. Any idea what the "thing" is in the woods?

Rita said...

I came from smaller families. Only two brothers in my dad's (and his younger brother just died-92, I think). My mom was the oldest of three and has a brother and sister--all living. For several generations back the largest two broods were four--one was only because they tried for ten years, adopted two kids, and she got magically pregnant with twins--LOL! The other was because she married a guy who was divorced and had two kids and they had two more, but the first two didn't live with them so I almost forgot about there being four kids with that one cousin.

We had two families in the neighborhood who had six kids each and I thought that was a lot! I can't even imagine such a big family--wow! They sound like wonderful people.

Red said...

It's great to be able to get out and do spring stuff. I'm a long way from doing any spring stuff.

Sam I Am...... said...

I too loved my Uncles...they were the same...kind, gentle, soft spoken, strong and helpful human beings. They always had a smile and a kind word and I never heard them say a bad word about anyone....my Aunts either. I try but they were The Best...was it that generation? Hardworking, honest.....I could go on and on. I bet you miss them like I miss my family.