U is for Uncle...

Uncle Covie that is. It is funny when you look back over your life there are always people that stick out, people that touched your life in one way or another. Whether it is aunts or uncles or other acquaintances, they just will always hold a special place in your heart.

Uncle Covie is one who holds that place in my life. He was my mom’s older brother. There were two years between them and I think they were best buds growing up. Uncle Covie was quite eccentric. The best way to describe him is he would of fit right into some of the old westerns. Most times you could find him with his jeans, cowboy boots and a gun and holster strapped to his side, especially if he was at home.

He lived in a house that by most people’s measures was a shack. In 1979 when I stayed with them there still was no indoor plumbing. The outhouse was at the back of the yard and the well where you had to draw the water up was outside the back door. You could actually feel the air coming through some of the cracks in the walls. During cold weather the wood burning stove in the front room was always stoked.  My aunt begged him to build a new house, but he was happy where he was. You see it was more than a house it was a home and you could feel the warmth and the love when you stepped inside.

He was quite a character; he loved to tell stories and pull jokes. When we were kids he used to stick a firecracker in a piece of cornbread, light it and throw it out to the chickens. You should have heard the ruckus when it would go off, and my aunt would yell Covie what are you doing now. When my nephew was little Uncle Covie had promised him when we got to his house he could ride his horse, it was dark when we got there and Jim was disappointed. Uncle Covie went and got the horse and brought him in the house so Jim could ride him. I really thought Aunt Vada was going to kill him that time. He was always doing something. He was known to make moonshine out in his shed something that his dad was also known for. One time in the early 70’s when he flew to IL to visit he brought 2-glass 7-up bottles in a cardboard carrier on the plane. Needless to say his moonshine was in those litre bottles not 7-up.

Some of my best memories took place at his home. We had a lot of long talks especially when I was staying with them. He pointed out how the most important thing to so many people were material things, always trying to outdo each other. But what really counted was what was inside, what you felt with the heart, how you treated other people, that’s what was important. That is why he was loved and known wherever he went.

I could go on an on with stories and memories but I think you get the picture. He was a pretty special man in my book! He left this world in 1984 and what a legacy he left.

until next time... nel