UNCLE TONY’S IN HEAVEN (MAYBE)

Every kid of Italian heritage has or should have an Uncle Tony. All my cousins did, and so did I. My Uncle Tony was actually my Dad’s sister’s husband. Uncle Tony was a mild meek gentleman who spoke broken English and really loved his booze. Married to my Aunt Angie made him that way. She was a domineering woman, with strong will and a take charge attitude, probably just your average wife. (Only kidding)

Uncle Tony was such a boozer that my aunt would hide the booze on him. Meek as Uncle Tony was, he wasn’t stupid. He would arrange to play hide and seek with his kids, and would find the booze where it was hidden!

One of his favorite past times was barbequing at any time of the year, including during a blizzard. Old Uncle Tony would announce around supper time “I make a nice a fire!” Out he would go and make the fire and cook for my aunt.

One year it was graduation time and my aunt lived in a duplex with my father’s brother Joe. They never got along and on the rare occasion that they did, something would always happen. Uncle Joe had a son who was graduating, and my aunt had a daughter who was graduating. My Aunt Angie was visiting with my Uncle Joe’s wife, (who happened to be my Mother’s sister, two brothers married two sisters) and Uncle Tony came home from work, and goes over to my Uncle Joe’s house and Aunt Angie says to him “Tony, go upstairs and get dressed for the graduation tonight” Of course she meant upstairs next door. So off goes Uncle Tony. Uncle Joe comes home and is told his clothes are all laid out for him on the bed upstairs. Just as he is ready to go up, who comes down but Uncle Tony, all dressed up, and ready to go, in Uncle Joes suit, shirt, tie, socks and shoes!

Once, Uncle Joe and Uncle Tony went fishing in a local lake. They were sitting in a rowboat when all of a sudden Uncle Tony decides to stand up and as he does, falls out of the boat! “Helpa, hime gonna drrrown, I can’ta swim!” He was sitting in the water, the water up to his chest.

When my Dad was dying, Uncle Tony was living in Florida and was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and somehow found out about my father who was dying here in New York. He goes to my Aunt and says while shaving “Shine a my shoes I’m a going to visit Tony.”

Not too much later Uncle Tony passed on from a heart attack, and when he did, I thought: “I wonder if he’s playing hide and seek up there?”