to The Village Square

My Great Uncle Tom

June 12th, 2008

Yesterday my Uncle Tom died. He was 90.

My Uncle Tom was something special. He’s the kind of guy who just by being himself makes his great niece walk just a little taller, aim just a little higher.

Tom was the last of four brothers, who grew up to be - in order of their birth - a Methodist minister (as was their father), a pediatrician, another pediatrician and an obstetrician (Tom).

Uncle Tom was a son of the South, as was my grandpa - though long since transplanted to care for the children in an Ohio mill town, an Ohio mill town which has long since died.

Tom was the last brother. He was the most amazing husband, steadily loving and caring for his aging wife with Alzheimer’s.

Miriam.

Even with Alzheimer’s, Miriam is such an amazing lady. Warm, welcoming, even though she forgets who you are.

Miriam and Tom were the beautiful people - you know… the kind who would rightfully sit a bit above the rest of us regular folks… well-educated, well-heeled, well-paid. Gorgeous.

They didn’t. They were the salt of the earth.

Uncle Tom, as far as I know, was a lifelong Republican. So was my grandpa, who died long before Republicans and Democrats seemed to so hate each other.

My grandpa would have never hated me.

I believe my grandpa and his doctor-brothers all felt that they were taking care of the children and babies in their towns just-fine-thank-you-no-need-for-government-here.

Knowing Tom, Ken (brother 3) and my grandpa, I’m betting they were right.

I’m a lifelong Democrat.

I never talked to Tom about politics. Frankly, it just didn’t matter. Lots of things mattered a whole lot more.

About a zillion years ago my boyfriend-almost-husband found himself with a dead car on the top of a suspension bridge two states away from me. We called Uncle Tom who, obstetric practice and all, drove to the top of the bridge and rescued my husband.

You know how busy obstetricians are?

In his last letter to me, Great Uncle Tom thanked my husband for “taking my nephew fishing all the time… and bringing him back again.”

So, if you’re a Democrat like me and you’re inclined to hate Republicans, you’re going to have to do it without me.

Because the Republican you hate might just be like my Uncle Tom, whose absence today makes the world more than just a little bit less.

Entry Filed under: 50 years., This I Believe