A Georgia Girl in Germany

I have an absolutely wonderful uncle. I couldn’t have asked for a better uncle than my Uncle Sam. He’s my mom’s younger brother, and I was born just a few months after he graduated high school. When I was young, I remember visiting my grandparents’ farm and running around the front yard while he -- playing the role of “Tickle Monster” -- chased my brother and me. He always seemed to catch us at some point and would tickle us unmercifully (well, it seemed so at the time -- he sure knew how to find all our tickle spots!), but we also got away a good bit of the time. It was good clean fun (and great exercise too)!

I remember for my third birthday, he gave me a green inchworm. I had so much fun riding that inchworm up and down the driveway!

As I got older, every now and then, David and I were able to spend the night with him and Aunt Gail. It was always a treat. We’d pull out the hideaway bed from the couch, get ready for bed, curl up under the covers with our cousins and watch TV until the wee hours of the night. I even remember watching the National Anthem play a few times indicating the end of programming before the TV screen went to static. Mom and Dad would NEVER let us stay up late enough to see the National Anthem play!

I also remember him and Aunt Gail taking David and me to see “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” in the theater. They even bought us popcorn and soda! We rarely convinced our parents to buy popcorn and soda at the movies, so we were ecstatic! They had gone to see the movie already, so knew to take their girls to the lobby to buy popcorn during the scariest scene (I don’t remember if David went with them or not), but since I was 13 I was allowed to stay in the theater and watch it.

My first paying job -- other than babysitting -- was working in Uncle Sam’s pepper fields. He paid me $75 (and even had to report it to the IRS) for picking and sorting peppers. I was pleased to make the extra money, and (despite the South Georgia summer heat) enjoyed spending time with family in the field. I also topped tobacco in his fields one summer. That was awful work since we had to wear long sleeves in the South Georgia heat to protect us from the sticky sap that oozed from the plants when we broke off the flower clusters from the tops. The job was even more unenjoyable since I had to reach above my head to top most of the plants -- boy did my arms get tired! Fortunately (?), I never had to help harvest the tobacco -- either I was too young (so I stayed back at the house and helped Granny Walker prepare the meals for when they finished for the day) or we weren’t visiting when it was harvest time. A part of me wanted to help on the harvester, but I know it was miserable and back-breaking work so was thankful that I didn't have to.



Since my parents lived in Colorado and Texas while I was in college in South Georgia, I’d go to my grandparents’ farm for the weekends since they were just over an hours' drive away. Sometimes I’d get to steal away a bit with Uncle Sam (of course, after I’d started my laundry and worked on homework a bit). Everywhere we went together, whether it was to a fall festival downtown, making a house call on extended family or to the Dairy Queen for a mid-afternoon treat, I always felt special when with Uncle Sam. He knows just about everyone in town (and the other nearby towns as well!), and he always proudly introduced me to everyone we ran into while we were out and about. I’ve never heard a bad word spoken about him, which makes me doubly proud to be his niece. Even to this day when I travel back to my mom’s hometown, all I have to is mention that he’s my uncle and everyone knows who he is and shares a kind word about him.





Now he’s carrying on that same tradition with my own kids. He gladly takes them for rides in his John Deere tractor (they all look forward to that every time we head to the farm) and steals them away for jaunts into town. Zachary once asked for 20 pieces of chicken at KFC -- he was thinking nuggets instead of PIECES! Uncle Sam also talked to Zachary about college and the Hope Scholarship -- now Zachary has his mind made up that he’s going to move in with Uncle Sam and Aunt Gail so he can graduate high school in Georgia and go to Georgia Tech on the Hope Scholarship!

Thanks for all the wonderful memories, Uncle Sam (aka “Tickle Monster”). I couldn’t have asked for a more kind, generous and loving uncle than you -- I’ve truly been blessed to have you in my life! Happy 57th birthday. May you be blessed with many more! I love you!!

Labels: Birthdays, Pam's thoughts