Uncle Willie
My son and I were talking about family today. Specifically family members that had passed away that he hadn't met. I told him about my father's side of the family because we rarely talk about that side mostly because after my father died I lost contact with most of the aunts, uncles and cousins except for maybe a couple. I told him about Uncle Willie. Uncle Willie was the most colorful uncle on that side of the family. He was truly one of a kind.
Uncle Willie was the second youngest of the boys in the family of nine. He didn't really resemble his brother's much or his sisters except for one, the youngest sister. I think that gave him a complex since he was darker then the rest of the family and unlike two of his brothers he didn't have light eyes. My dad had green eyes and so did my uncle that was born right after my dad in the birth order and they looked most alike. I think that Uncle Willie was sort of jealous of them in particular and it didn't help that he thought that he never really fit in. Not that it mattered to anyone because he was family and everyone loved him. But, like I said he was truly one of a kind. Uncle Willie drove many cars but preferred Cadillac's when he could afford them. Big old ones too and they all had to be white. All of his cars were white. I remember one car in particular that he brought from one of his bosses. It was a white station wagon. The old kind that you would see back in the day. It was huge and for a short while that was his car. My dad used to call it the roach mobile because he had roaches in the car. I will never know to this day how they got in the car but sure enough they were there and after my dad discovered that they were there we never rode with him in that car again. Uncle Willie blamed one of his girlfriends who he claimed was "nasty" and had them in her house and that is how they probably got in his car. Who knows really if that story was true because his car was filthy. He had all kinds of fast food wrappers that littered the back seat and the front seat, all kinds of empty cups and bottles and beer cans. Uncle Willie loved to drink beer, malt liquor in particular. He must have had at least ten empty cans in the car at any given time.
Well, Uncle Willie like older women and he brought a few over our house occasionally to meet us. One of his girlfriends was at least 30 years older then him and the mother of my other uncles best friend. Yes, it was kind of twisted but that was sort of the way Uncle Willie was at times. Her name was Louise and at eight years old I thought that she was the most beautiful older woman I had ever seen. She was always dressed up nice and always wore perfect make up and her hair, which later I found out was a wig, was always neatly done. She was tall and model thin and had on the best jewelry I had ever seen in my young life. I especially liked her diamond ring that she wore on her left hand on her ring finger. If you didn't know better you would have thought she was married but she wasn't. I think that her husband died shortly after she had her only son. (my other uncle's best friend. They met in the Army) Louise was very nice but Uncle Willie was not that nice to her most of the time. He would boss her around and they would argue and then Louise would say that it was rude to argue in his brother's house and the next thing you knew Uncle Willie would tell her to get in the car they were leaving. He went with her for a couple of years then he moved on to Bertha who he claimed kept robbing him every time he got paid. He used to say that when he got paid and went to her house he would have a few beers and then pass out and when he woke up the next morning all his money was gone and so was Bertha. Who knew if that was true either. Uncle Willie was not a small man in height nor weight and I just could not imagine anyone stealing anything from him. But, that was always his story and he would always borrow money from my dad on the Monday after the Friday that he got paid until my dad got sick of it and told him no one day so he came up with another story that he got laid off. Uncle Willie had a habit of stretching the truth or in other words lying. Everyone knew it and nobody really believed too much of what he said.
Uncle Willie worked for his friend who owned a car wash. When he was in between jobs he would go to his friend for a job. And Uncle Willie was always between jobs because of his mouth. If he didn't like you believe me you would know it and that is probably what got him fired from quite a few jobs.
The last time I saw Uncle Willie was probably in the mid 80's. He came to our house when my oldest nephew was around two years old and he sat and talked for a while and wanted to have my dad's Air force picture, the only one we had, to make a copy for himself. My mom knew better to let him have it because knowing him that would be the last time we would see it. So, she told him to come back in a couple of weeks and she would copy it for him. He never came back and a few years later my aunt, his oldest sister called out of the blue and told my mom that he had died. She didn't say how he died just that he had died. There was no funeral or memorial for him. I guess that is the way he wanted it. He never married nor did he have any kids. I think that he died when he was in his late 40's or early 50's. The last thing he said to me as he was looking at the prom picture I had on the fireplace mantel was this, "You sure like them dark don't you?" Meaning my prom date who was tall dark and handsome, literally. We laughed and he said good bye to my mom and left.
Uncle Willie was truly one of a kind. I have many, many stories about him, May he Rest in Paradise.
Uncle Willie was the second youngest of the boys in the family of nine. He didn't really resemble his brother's much or his sisters except for one, the youngest sister. I think that gave him a complex since he was darker then the rest of the family and unlike two of his brothers he didn't have light eyes. My dad had green eyes and so did my uncle that was born right after my dad in the birth order and they looked most alike. I think that Uncle Willie was sort of jealous of them in particular and it didn't help that he thought that he never really fit in. Not that it mattered to anyone because he was family and everyone loved him. But, like I said he was truly one of a kind. Uncle Willie drove many cars but preferred Cadillac's when he could afford them. Big old ones too and they all had to be white. All of his cars were white. I remember one car in particular that he brought from one of his bosses. It was a white station wagon. The old kind that you would see back in the day. It was huge and for a short while that was his car. My dad used to call it the roach mobile because he had roaches in the car. I will never know to this day how they got in the car but sure enough they were there and after my dad discovered that they were there we never rode with him in that car again. Uncle Willie blamed one of his girlfriends who he claimed was "nasty" and had them in her house and that is how they probably got in his car. Who knows really if that story was true because his car was filthy. He had all kinds of fast food wrappers that littered the back seat and the front seat, all kinds of empty cups and bottles and beer cans. Uncle Willie loved to drink beer, malt liquor in particular. He must have had at least ten empty cans in the car at any given time.
Well, Uncle Willie like older women and he brought a few over our house occasionally to meet us. One of his girlfriends was at least 30 years older then him and the mother of my other uncles best friend. Yes, it was kind of twisted but that was sort of the way Uncle Willie was at times. Her name was Louise and at eight years old I thought that she was the most beautiful older woman I had ever seen. She was always dressed up nice and always wore perfect make up and her hair, which later I found out was a wig, was always neatly done. She was tall and model thin and had on the best jewelry I had ever seen in my young life. I especially liked her diamond ring that she wore on her left hand on her ring finger. If you didn't know better you would have thought she was married but she wasn't. I think that her husband died shortly after she had her only son. (my other uncle's best friend. They met in the Army) Louise was very nice but Uncle Willie was not that nice to her most of the time. He would boss her around and they would argue and then Louise would say that it was rude to argue in his brother's house and the next thing you knew Uncle Willie would tell her to get in the car they were leaving. He went with her for a couple of years then he moved on to Bertha who he claimed kept robbing him every time he got paid. He used to say that when he got paid and went to her house he would have a few beers and then pass out and when he woke up the next morning all his money was gone and so was Bertha. Who knew if that was true either. Uncle Willie was not a small man in height nor weight and I just could not imagine anyone stealing anything from him. But, that was always his story and he would always borrow money from my dad on the Monday after the Friday that he got paid until my dad got sick of it and told him no one day so he came up with another story that he got laid off. Uncle Willie had a habit of stretching the truth or in other words lying. Everyone knew it and nobody really believed too much of what he said.
Uncle Willie worked for his friend who owned a car wash. When he was in between jobs he would go to his friend for a job. And Uncle Willie was always between jobs because of his mouth. If he didn't like you believe me you would know it and that is probably what got him fired from quite a few jobs.
The last time I saw Uncle Willie was probably in the mid 80's. He came to our house when my oldest nephew was around two years old and he sat and talked for a while and wanted to have my dad's Air force picture, the only one we had, to make a copy for himself. My mom knew better to let him have it because knowing him that would be the last time we would see it. So, she told him to come back in a couple of weeks and she would copy it for him. He never came back and a few years later my aunt, his oldest sister called out of the blue and told my mom that he had died. She didn't say how he died just that he had died. There was no funeral or memorial for him. I guess that is the way he wanted it. He never married nor did he have any kids. I think that he died when he was in his late 40's or early 50's. The last thing he said to me as he was looking at the prom picture I had on the fireplace mantel was this, "You sure like them dark don't you?" Meaning my prom date who was tall dark and handsome, literally. We laughed and he said good bye to my mom and left.
Uncle Willie was truly one of a kind. I have many, many stories about him, May he Rest in Paradise.
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