Uncle Jay

The first time I saw him, that I remember, he had almost white hair. He was a young man that had just come back from World War II. He didn’t talk about the war, but I did learn over the years that he had been severely wounded and had walked about a quarter mile carrying his intestines, to a first aid station.

I also learned that he had to do something an East Texas boy doesn’t do. He had killed a woman that was shooting at him when Germany used women in combat, near the end of the war.

Jay was different. He never held down a job and his wife supported the family. He did have a small shop where he worked on cars when he wanted to - if he wanted to. He didn’t charge much so he always had lots of people waiting in line. What made him different was that he was not afraid of dying. He had no fear of any man or beast. His attitude was that he had already died and spent some time in hell.

He lived because life meant something to him. I don’t think he ever thought about tomorrow because he didn’t expect it to become today. Once he traded his old pickup for a boat because he really wanted the boat. It was only after the man drove off in the truck did Jay think about he had no way to get the boat to the lake.

Then there was the time that he and my dad were drinking some moonshine. When I asked what they were drinking, he gave me a taste. I swallowed and instantly could not breathe. My eyes watered and I began to cry and cough and really believe I was going to die. My mother rushed in and finally got me back to breathing. She attacked him for having done such a stupid thing. Old Jay just sat and let her rant and rave until she finally ran out of air. Then he smiled and said, "Ask him if he wants some more?"

When I think about him, I guess he was my favorite uncle. Although I didn’t see him all that often. But I do remember once when I had seen a plastic gun in a comic book and had shown it to him, he reached into his wallet and gave me his last two dollars to buy it.

Uncle Jay did get a job as a security officer at one of the local hospitals but decided to quit. When he told his boss that he was leaving, the boss offered him a raise to stay. "Can’t stay," said Jay. The supervisor pressed for a more detailed answer. "Since I work the night shift, I have to sleep during the day," Jay explained. "Quail hunting season opened and I can’t work all night and hunt all day," he said.

I wonder what it would be like to live today without no expectation of tomorrow? I will never be able to do that.

Jay did.

PMO
©2011