A Gene Story

Michael...I must stop and give you an update about your Uncle Gene.

Your Uncle Gene is not in the best of health now. He has had several bouts with cancer and has had both knees replaced so he has a little trouble getting around. Then there was the time his heart stopped, but the doctors managed to get it going again. He smoked until spots were discovered on his lungs. He still eats greasy food, but quitting smoking will most likely give him some extra time here on this earth. No matter what happens to him I will always remember him as a tower of strength, resplendent in his Air Force khakis.

If you were to go to Great Falls to visit your Uncle Gene you would be taken fishing. No questions asked, the camper is already to go, his boat is hitched and if you don’t give him a hard time he will provide the sandwiches. The best time I ever had with him was when we headed out for a weeks stay at his favorite lake. We caught lake trout until our arms ached from the effort. We cooked the trout over an open fire and I ate them until I hurt. Our weeks stay ended when several other campers pulled up to the lake and your Uncle Gene said, “This place is getting really crowded.”

There are a lot of Gene “stories” out there, but the latest one came from your cousin Lorrie’s husband, John. He told about the time he was out on a lake fishing with your Uncle Gene and he was about to freeze. Now this was a rite of passage for the new son-in-law, an initiation into the clan, of sorts. Now John doesn’t drink coffee, but he just wanted something warm to keep his hands from freezing, so when your Uncle Gene got out his thermos full of coffee, just to be polite, he asked John if he wanted some. John replied that yes he would like some coffee. This caught your Uncle Gene off guard because he knew John did not drink coffee. Being as there was only one cup, that being the cap to the thermos, your Uncle Gene began to look around for another cup. He spotted a stryofoam cup lying in the bottom of the boat that had previously held earthworms to be used for bait. There was a small amount of dirt in the bottom of the cup so your Uncle Gene emptied that out of the cup and for good measure rinsed the cup out in the lake water. He then poured coffee into the cup and handed it to John.