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Uncle Dale
I found out today that my Uncle Dale died.
Much like with Undle Ed [1], it's mixed news—sad that he is no longer here,
but relieved since he too, was suffering from a neurological disease for
years (but a different one from Uncle Ed).
Dale married my Dad's sister Kay, and they lived about two miles from my
grandparents house, so I spent a lot of time there as well. And what really
stood out about their house was not the garage, but this giant black walnut
tree in the backyard that made running around in your barefeet a rather
dangerous endevour (the walnuts would fall and slowly decompose into the
ground, making for a very bumpy backyard). This was a thing because of the
pool they had in the backyard, a rare thing indeed in Michigan.
But what really stood out to me about Dale, aside from Dale himself (being I
think 6′2″ or 6′4″) was his love of family and sailing. Every year he and the
rest of his family would drive up to Higgins Lake [2] with catamaran [3] in
tow. I do recall riding it once, only because I wasn't into the whole “family
camping thang” he and his family did every year (roughing it for me is the
lack of A/C (Air Conditioner) in the hotel room).
He also taught me how to ride a bike. I was probably seven or eight at the
time and Dale took it upon himself to teach me how to ride in the most
effective way he knew how—by placing me on a bike on the sidewalk in from of
the house (which ran parallel to a 4-lane road) and shoving hard. All I had
to do was keep upright and avoid falling into traffic, the large blue mailbox
or the utility poles. I learned how to ride a bike in three days.
Effective … yes. Safe? Probably not.
But I did learn quickly.
So here's to Uncle Dale. And much love to Aunt Kay, and my cousins Joshua,
Aaron, Jordan, Caitlin and Ethan.
[1]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2020/11/07.1
[2]
https://www.michigan.org/city/higgins-lake
[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran
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