UNCLE HENRY

Everyone has one. Their most memorable relative. For me it is my Uncle Henry. He seems to pop up in my memory all the time in all kinds of situations. Steph and I call these "Uncle Henry moments". Steph, who got to know Uncle Henry for a short while before his passing, really dug him and gets the jist of these moments.

Whenever I eat pringles I think of him(that was his favorite and forbidden snack).
Whenever I go for "seconds" at a dinner, I think of him. It seems whenever we were at family functions and UH was there, we would both go for seconds at the same time, and if I was behind, he would ask me what my hold-up was.
The other day I got a wicked sunburn when I took Liam and his friend to the pool. Steph accused me of "bikini-watching" and it served me right. All I could think of was UH's ham-radio card he passed around with this written at the bottom"Hobbies:Fishing and Girl-Watching". This is my favorite of UH's. The way I look at it is, I can't help it-it's just my hobby. Way to go Uncle Henry.
My all time favorite memories growing up was listening to my Dad,UH and my Uncle Joe argue about current events in that small apartment my Great-grandmother had above UH's. There would always be a bucket of Kentucky-Fried-Chicken, "Gansett" tall-boys, and a cloud of smoke. Some would turn their heads at this "unhealthy" situation. For me it is a memory, and a wonderful one at that. I was always amazed at how well UH could argue. It used to drive everyone crazy because they all felt he was stubborn. He LOVED to argue about current topics, or just anything that was on his mind. There was always someone willing to debate. You just had to realize you're entering the coliseum with a true gladiator. You see, I always agreed with UH. Sure he was stubborn, but he had good intentions and could back it up. Steph always tells me I am pulling an "Uncle Henry" when I seem to be very stubborn when arguing. I don't get upset about this. I feel sort of proud to be referred to the true master.
Then there is the "Joanie, lets bolt out of here" head wave. Whenever he wanted to leave a function, he would look for his daughter Joanie and give her the head nod toward the door. This may seem like something that anyone does or has done. Not in this case. If you ever saw how UH did it, you would understand. And if you ever wanted to leave somewhere and let your partner know, all you had to do was the "Uncle Henry". That's it-no words. You could be across the room and get the message across.

There are lots more moments. All I hope is that he sees me from "up-there", and smiles knowing that he is behind the emotions in these moments. And I hope he realizes that he was a very cool and hip uncle.