ode to uncle bill

I talked to my Uncle Bill tonight about a situation I’ve been gathering courage to tackle. You see, I’m not the bravest of souls, so I try and seek out advice from people I trust (and sometimes from the poor lifeguards who have no choice but to listen to me because they are stuck in the guard stand where I am coaching. If any of you ever read this, I apologize. Profusely.) He told me that if I didn’t take a chance that he could guarantee, the answer would be “no”…and if I did take this chance I had a 50/50 chance of getting the answer I wanted. He then went on to ask me that if I had a 50/50 chance at winning the lottery every week, wouldn’t I play it? Of course, I would. I should also book us a vacay to Vegas.

My Uncle Bill, in my heart of hearts, is the 2nd smartest man in my life (the 1st being my Dad, for all of you curious George’s out there). He’s so street smart, and level headed; he truly tries to look for the good in everyone, and always gives them the opportunity to prove it.

He was my Dad when my real Dad was on duty, or when I couldn’t talk to my Dad about certain topics. He was the man that bailed me out of a few tickets, and a possible arrest. (Lil’ ol’ me? yup. ha-ha) I’ll never forget when I first decided to move he was so supportive. The only real voice of reason I wanted to listen to. Because who wants to listen to your parents when you are 21? He brought me a present the night before I left. It was a pack of legal pads “so I never ran out of paper to write home” and a framed picture of him in his police uniform on his motorcycle.

We’ve always been kindred spirits. I’ve never quite figured out why. He has a gaggle of nieces and nephews, but somehow he chose me. He’s the only family member to know everything about me, and except me with my faults. We even have a secret hand signal since I was 8…or whenever the Vanilla Ice era was going on.

Back to the situation… I’ve decided I’m going to take a chance; throwing caution, and my chicken shit ways, to the wind. Besides, my Uncle Bill said that if he says no, then he wasn’t good enough for me anyways. He’s probably right. (And so were the rest of you.)