Uncle Don

Uncle Don was ten foot tall, had hands the size of oven mitts, and was Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman. O.K., not really, but growing up this is what I thought. He was always the comical one. He had a great sense of humor and was always fun to listen to. Donald is the brother closest to mom’s age. Well, he got to be the baby of the family for a long time, eleven years. Then along came mom.

He served in WWII in the Navy. Both of the older kids were in the war and he wanted to go, also, but he was too young. I guess he nearly drove everyone nuts until he was old enough to go. When he finally signed up and was shipped out, Grandma had to make another flag with another star on it signifying that she had three children in the war. Uncle Don made it all the way to San Diego and then never got any farther for the duration of the war, much to his chagrin.

He was a farmer and a firefighter. Then he took his family and moved to Alaska for over thirty years. They would send us canned salmon and tell us stories about moose and bears in their front lawn. Whenever he and his family would visit they would talk about how hot it was here and how much cooler the weather was back home. I hate hot weather and I still threaten to move in with my cousins in Alaska. Uncle Don passed away in 2003.