Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.
~Ephesians 5:32
I have been remembering a lot about Uncle John this week.
The above verse is what always comes to mind when I think of him. Aaron has a
saying, I can’t remember the exact wording, that goes something like if you’re
a grumpy young person, you will be a grumpier old person. And the opposite is
also true. If you are a kind young person, you will be a kinder old person. This
was true of Uncle John. Even when he lost his memory and went to Bender he was
still who he was. His character of kindness and compassion and interest in
other people still shined through. Though he had no clue who I was anymore, he
was always glad to see me on the few occasions I went with the family to visit
him at Bender. “Hello, young lady!” That’s how he always greeted me, and that’s
the greeting Maddy got when we took her to see him.
Uncle John had a talent for making people feel special,
especially kids. My dad talks about banana splits and ice cream at Zarda’s. I
and my siblings talk about milkshakes at the Fortune Club. I remember the first
time I met Alex, Brenna, and Caitlyn, they talked about Uncle John and how he
took them out for pizza. You could just tell that Uncle John made them feel
special. It was a feeling that I could understand without them having to
explain in words what was so great about Uncle John taking you out for pizza.
Other people have taken me out for ice cream and pizza, but there was something
about the way that Uncle John did these ordinary things that turned them into extraordinary
memories.
I will also always remember the magic shows at Jessie’s
Cabin. Those were highly anticipated each year. Even though sometimes the hanky
didn’t quite cover up the quarter or the ball that had magically turned into a
sphere from a square still had a corner poking out, there was still something
magical about the tricks because Uncle John did them. I never could figure out
the riddles he gave us, like how to draw a dot in the middle of a circle
without lifting the pencil off the page, until he finally told us. He’d usually
tell one of the boys first, and then eventually we’d all get let in on the
trick.
I also remember Uncle John greeting all the girls as they
came down from the loft for breakfast, “Here she comes! Miss America!” I admit
it wasn’t my favorite greeting at the time, but I love remembering it now
because it was so Uncle John. He always told us about how women had cold hand
and feet in the morning but men had warm hands and feet. Then he’d proceed to
prove it by feeling all of our hands. “Feel Matthew’s hands. See how warm they
are?” Then he’d feel all the girls hands and pronounce them cold. This little
proceeding always created quite a debate about the truth of Uncle John’s
assumptions.
Uncle John received a purple heart in WWII. He never talked
about his war experiences, but he always showed us the purple heart when we
went to his house. I can remember him showing it to us when Jessica, Tricia,
Cindy, Tammy, and I went to their house for Thanksgiving when we were at York.
Uncle John gave us his best “twenty-five cent” tour of Kansas City. He took us
out for pizza, took us to see the Christmas lights, and Aunt Johnnie Mae made a
fantastic Thanksgiving dinner.
I don’t even know all the ways that Uncle John blessed
people’s lives. He was definitely a person who cared about the individual and
their needs. To me he is a wonderful example of how to shine the light of Jesus
in ordinary, everyday circumstances wherever you are, whoever you are around.
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