Aunts and Uncles

Today is Aunts and Uncles Day...... the cards and good wishes are pouring in....not!  Regardless of my role as Aunt...which I think I perform (generally) pretty well, it's sad for me to realize I have but one living Aunt...and she lives in Georgia now.  Our family is relatively small!  I had 3 uncles and 3 aunts who were related by the gene pool. Thankfully none came from the shallow end and all, especially my uncles, were pretty cool.  I have special memories from each of them♥  I also had several aunts and uncles who were relatives but scattered throughout different limbs of our family tree. They were great as well but I will remember them as always being old.  I think that many of my favorite uncles weren't really uncles at all but closer than most family.  The "Hewitt" women were never known for their "fuzziness!" The "Hewitt" men were pretty cool but my uncles by love and association really rocked. Two were extra special and I think I've extolled their virtues in the uncle department before.....but they bear remembering again and again.  They would be my Uncle Dick (White) and my Uncle Lou (Ettinger!)  Uncle Dick was my Dad's very best friend.  They lived in Cooperstown but Uncle Dick grew up in Kelloggsville.  His Dad was the head of the welfare department in the county and one of his sister's was our high school librarian and the Mom of one of my besties!  The fourth of July was my favorite with Uncle Dick. While Mom was preparing fried green tomatoes for breakfast on the screened in porch, Uncle Dick would take me out in the boat to shoot off Independence morning fire crackers.  I can picture it as if it were yesterday......and it was over 50 years ago!  My Uncle Lou was the best host in the entire world.  He had a cabin cruiser..............on Owasco Lake.  When we would go for rides, it was like being on the Queen Mary...there was a kitchen and a bathroom.............on a boat...wow!  Back at his beautiful home on the lake was a bar where there was actually soda (we called it "pop" back then) on tap.  I remember him asking one day what I'd like to drink. I said "root beer!"  Sorry there was no root beer BUT the very next visit he asked, "Would you like an ice cold mug of root beer?"....That's just the kind of uncle he was.....root beer was on tap!
So, as with any family, blood is merely what you have in your veins....it's what you have in your heart that makes love (and family)......especially if it's firecrackers and root beer!!!♥♥