Thursday, June 13, 2024
I called him "My GREATEST UNCLE JERRY". He was a hero to me. A bachelor until his mid/late 70s, I figured if Jerry could do it, I could too.
Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he found love and got to enjoy Cathy's company during his later years.
But I always looked at him as a true "Man's Man". By that I mean... He worked hard, lived out by the dam , had a barbwire collection beyond compare, and would go to Car "Rallies" with his Ford Model A club for hundreds of miles up into Oregon and back.
Holidays wouldn't be complete without him toasting the Great Chickasaw Nation while simultaneously paying respects to the land our family held with security in Oklahoma.. . The Chisholm Trail.
Only recently have I looked into the genealogy of Jerry and Gran's ( His eldest sister Mildred Ava Smith... him being the baby of the Smith family children)
Perhaps the only job I ever regretted not seeing to maturity was the one he got me through the old school "good ol' boy network". It may have just been an entry level state job at the Ag Extension up in Chico where I had returned to college, but it meant a lot to me.
You're still GREATEST Uncle Jerry... Always will be. A man worthy of respect.
