Three stories: So, as the first of the next generation I got a lot of early time with Auntie Bunny and Uncle Jerry including sleepovers and a vacation trip to Springfield, Illinois. As the only one around, it was easy to be their favorite. I must have been 7 or 8 on our trip to Springfield and it was probably the first time I slept overnight in a hotel, a Sleepy Bear Inn. We visited the state capital and Lincoln's house but Uncle Jerry was always the kidder and he decided to hide in the woods and scare Auntie Bunny and me when we visited Lincoln's tomb in the evening. I hope I had nightmares and they couldn't sleep that night. :)
Fast forward to when Nina was just born and, boy, was she a screamer. Cheryl and I were terrified that Nina would wake up, but of course, that wouldn't stop Uncle Jerry from getting a chance to hold her. He had quite a laugh giving Nina right back to Cheryl after she started one of her crying fits. All Auntie Bunny could do was shake her head, a common occurrence.
Like many others, Unc would get late night calls from me as a young homeowner wondering if he could come over some time to fix something. He went through our first home like a home inspector to make sure their were no hidden problems. So many times he would drop everything and come over to help. The worst of the home disasters was actually at my parent's house on Mason Ave. We had just moved in and everything we owned was in the basement. Of course, torrential rains hit while we were out and a flood of rain and sewer water that was at least several feet deep came in to the basement, destroying everything. All we had to do was put the drain pipe in, but no one warned us. I remember him fishing out my CB radio from the water, saying it will be all right, just let it dry out. So a few weeks later we set the thing up in the basement with a huge attenna in the backyard. I asked if the attenna was safe and he said, "Sure, give it a touch." I did and found myself flying through the air with a shock you couldn't believe and landed with a thump. He goes, "Yea, looks like that thing needs to be grounded." I still laugh about it but never quite trusted to touch anything when he was done working on it....
He is missed.