Uncle Bob
I lost a good uncle this past week. Uncle Bob was one of those guys you could count on to enliven any situation. One of the first memories I have of Bob was when my dad and I were pulled away from the weekend fun to get the cows milked on Sunday nights, Bob would always hang out with us in the barn. (Quite often, he had to drive from Kilkenny all the way to Silver Bay afterwards!) I think Dad was probably wishing Bob would quit distracting me with his jokes so we could get done quicker, but I know Dad will remember those times as good ones too. Bob would be the one to step up whenever anyone needed help. I specifically remember a cold November day when I was building my house; I still hadn't gotten tar paper on the roof, and it started raining. I was praying for snow, so it wouldn't flood my basement, but it was one of those frigid cold rains that was really messing up my worksite. About halfway through that day, Bob shows up with a truckload of plastic tarps - all the store had for sure - and we threw 'em over the house for a quick fix. It did more for my spirits than anything. With guys like that on your side, life was quite a bit more enjoyable. I'm gonna miss his old predictable lines...'How's the car running?' or 'Boy, that's good...you could eat the dogsh** out of that, couldn't ya?' I also remember that smile on his face after he decided to retire from his job early. He had lots of friends, and I think work just cut into his visiting time. I also remember him and my brother Brian playing guitars Sundays at Gramma Bonnie's; I think one of the songs went something like 'We were hunting ducks...ducks so thick we used rakes instead of guns.' Miss ya, Bob.
posted by Tom @ 1:04 PM
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Hey Tom - thanks for the memories of Bob. I also remember being at Grandma Bonnie's house singing songs upstairs. Bob was always so much fun when he'd get out the guitars and start singing. I specifically remember singing along to "Grandma's Featherbed." Here's the refrain to the song - I've had it in my head all morning. Feel free to sing along - Bob would love it!!
It was nine feet high and six feet wide
Soft as a downy chick
It was made from the feathers of forty 'leven geese
Took a whole bolt of cloth for the tick
It'd hold eight kids, four hound dogs
And a piggy we stole from the shed
We didn't get much sleep but we had a lot of fun
On Grandma's feather bed
I remember a lot of great things about Big Bob. Seems like we spent a ton of time upstairs at Grandma's house, playing guitar and driving the grownups crazy with that great big amplifier. I remember emptying all my pocket change one night at Marjean's Rainy Lake cabin trying to get him to stop snoring (by throwing coins across the room). I remember begging him to sell me one of his cars ('66 Impala), but I think he knew he was doing me a favor by saying no. I remember Bob and Dad using M-80s to blow up apples, coffee cans, wood planks, and whatever else they could get their hands on. The thing I remember the most, though, is how excited we all got every time we saw Bob coming up the driveway. We knew the day was just about to get better. It's such a crying shame to lose him so young.
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