Uncle Ted was married to my mother’s twin, Marilynn. He was a very quiet man, a very intelligent man. He had a great sense of humor that I would see, on occasion, when he and my dad would start cutting up. Our favorite thing to say was that Marilynn and Carilynn married Ted and Fred. Of course my dad and uncle were not twins but in a lot of ways they were.
One, they both loved the twins. Deeply. They had to. Those two women could put most men to the test, and then some. Neither one of the men got a word in edge-wise because the twins loved to talk. We used to say if you married one you got the other. That was truly the case with the twins. And they loved them to the death. Isn’t that what love is supposed to be?
Members of both of our families.
Two, they both had a wonderful sense of humor. It was pretty dry. You had to keep up to get their jokes sometimes but they were both fun to be around. I never really knew that about Uncle Ted until Marilynn died, but I could sit and talk to Ted for hours about nothing, about everything. And he always made me laugh.
Mom cooked. This was when we lived on Edith Court. There’s Poppy, Aunt Meri, Uncle Ted, Mrs. Booker, Mr. Booker, Mama, Mom and me.
Three, they were extremely hard working. They both supported their families solo until all of the kids were in school. Then the twins got part time jobs that turned into full time jobs. It seemed as though all four of them were always working.
On their wedding day. Mr. and Mrs. Booker, Uncle Ted and Aunt Meri, Mama and Poppy
Four, they were handy men. They could fix anything and they did. They could rewire a house, frame a room, put up walls, fix anything on a car, or boat. They could do it all. Funny me, I thought all men could do that. Nope.
Five, they were faithful men. Uncle Ted was raised in the Catholic Church. Daddy was a convert. But they were believers and they showed their faith in the way that they lived.
The man was a saint. I love this picture. Mama lying on the couch with just a slip on and Uncle Ted sitting over in a side chair trying not to notice anything.
Six, they were wonderful fathers. They both had three children they would do anything for. They taught us how to cut up, a wonderful work ethic, how to love when you really don’t want to and how a man should love his wife and children and how to care for them.
Uncle Ted’s mother, Jeanette Booker and Daddy’s mother, Irene Pierce
Seven, their mothers loved them. Both of their fathers died younger than their mothers so they both received so much love and attention from their mothers. Uncle Ted was an only child while Daddy was an only boy. They were so proud to be their mother’s son.
Aunt Meri & Uncle Ted with their first daughter, Jan
There were differences, obviously. The main one that I consider all the time is that Daddy died young, at 41. Uncle Ted lived to be 88 and he was very proud to be that age.
Uncle Ted died last week. I will miss him every time I go into Wisconsin. I will miss him when I go to the lake and watch someone pulling a water skier. I will miss him every time I drive by Lynnbrook Drive. I will miss getting his Christmas cards that simply said “Uncle Ted”. I will miss calling him and saying “Hello Unc”. I will miss him.
Thank you for sharing your reminisces of your uncle. He was a fortunate man to have received so much love from you and your family.