My mom and dad were both close with their siblings. Shared hard times living through the Great Depression forged strong bonds that never seemed to weaken.

My uncle G is one of my mother’s brothers (name redacted to protect the innocent). He and his family were frequent visitors in our home and we visited their home frequently. There was always a congenial atmosphere so conversation topics ranged widely.

On time when we were visiting together the conversation turned to the latest blockbuster movie that had just been released. My uncle G did not like the movie and spent several minutes passionately stating his case as to why he did not like the it. There was no salty language but lots of adjectives and adverbs were flying around.

When Uncle G wrapped up his movie review he looked at my dad, who had sat through it quietly and non reactively, and asked him “what did you think Doug? Dad responded with four words and a smile “I kinda liked it.” We all chuckled and had a lovely visit.

Amendment – Dad and Uncle G were very close. More like brothers than brother-in-laws. There will be more stories about that in future pieces.