Uncle George Is Family ...

Uncle George became "family" when Aunt Vera and his brother Steve decided to get married. Aunt Vera met Steve when she went to the Caribbean during the March Break and ended up in the hospital with a broken toe. Steve was a medical student doing his internship at the General Hospital.

Aunt Vera is Buddy's only sister. To her, that means she is his big sister AND his little sister. It also means that he is partly responsible for financing her wedding. He was willing to acknowledge this responsibility on condition that the wedding is held on the picturesque grounds of the Stephen Leacock Museum.

August 4th was a picture perfect day. The skies were blue and expertly decorated with clumps of fluffy white clouds. The brilliant sunshine awakened every petal in the colorful garden and the birds welcomed the guests with song.

Uncle George somehow found himself at the water's edge feeding the ducks with bread intended for the wedding guests. Through the eyes of a first time visitor to Central Ontario, he saw himself landing his first loud mouth bass. It was a big one! A warm, gentle breeze caressed his loose hair as he felt the shrill of excitement rushing through his body.

Captivated by the splendor of it all, he decided to move to Canada. Uncle George did not even think it was necessary to discuss this decision with his dear wife, Annie. After all, she is the one who was always talking about moving to Canada and right now she is much too busy with the wedding.

Uncle George reached for his digital camera and took pictures of everything. That was when he noticed the little yellow flowers growing at the edge of the grounds. He wondered why they didn't have them on his lush little island in the sun.

"I'll bring some with me!" he exclaimed. "This will make me famous. Everyone will remember me for bringing this little flower to the Caribbean." He closed his eyes and imagined seeing them everywhere on the island.

He was so excited about this idea that he thought about telling everyone about it during his upcoming speech at the wedding reception. That was before Syl came by and referred to the little yellow flowers as those "pesky" dandelions.

The following year, Uncle George and Annie moved to Canada with bags and boxes filled with all kinds of goodies from the island and things from their "past" life. He wanted to be near the family so they rented a house down the street from Buddy.

Uncle George was overjoyed. By the end of the second week, he had visited all the neighbors on the street and invited them to come to his house on Saturday. He and Annie stayed up late that Friday night and prepared all kinds of island delicacies for the grand occasion.

On Saturday morning, Annie phoned Ms. Lucy and asked her to come over early to help her get organized. She wanted everything to be just right.

A few hours later, Buddy opened his own front door and heard, for the very first time, loud music coming from another house on the street. He knew exactly where it was coming from and wondered how the neighbors would react.

Buddy got his answer when he arrived at Uncle George's house. The front door was wide open and the guests, his neighbors, were all dressed in colorful island shirts. Some of them were wearing large straw hats and everyone had drinks in tall glasses. For a brief moment, he did not even realize that the limbo dancer was his neighbor Margarita.

To his surprise, the normally reserved Margarita danced provocatively towards him. She then raised her tall glass and said, "Uncle George makes a mean rum punch; you should try it!" That was not all! Margarita challenged Buddy to do the limbo dance with her. Ms. Lucy came to his rescue and took him to the kitchen.

After a mouthwatering supper with an assortment of spicy dishes and other island delicacies, Uncle George announced that he started keeping a diary and wanted to read it for everyone. Without waiting, he started reading.

October 8th -- We arrived in Canada!!! Finally!!! This marks a new chapter in our lives. It is very nice here, a little cool, but who needs the HOT weather? This is perfect! Not too hot. Not too cold.

October 10th -- It is getting a little cooler, but we are adjusting. We bought some sweaters today and went for a short walk.

October 12th -- Annie and I used the bus to go downtown for lunch. A charming little city! On the way home, a drunk got on the bus and sat next to a well-dressed older lady. In disgust, she looked him squarely in the eye and declared, "You ... are going to hell!" The drunk immediately jumped to his feet and shouted, "Stop! Stop! I got on the wrong bus!"

October 15th -- Our first trip to Toronto! What a big city? We love it! This is what life is all about!!!

October 16th -- We met some of our neighbors today. Nice people! We invited them to come to our house on Saturday.

October 18th -- We met some more neighbors today. They are coming over on Saturday too.

October 20th -- It is now 2:00 AM. Annie and I made all kinds of island goodies for tomorrow. We also made my special Caribbean rum punch.

By this time, the rum punch was starting to affect Buddy. He was now willing to accept Margarita's challenge to do the limbo dance with her. Unfortunately, the rum punch got the better of her and she was fast asleep on the couch. That was not a pretty sight!

The dancing continued without Margarita and almost everyone tried the limbo dance. Around 9:30 PM the neighbors started saying goodbye. They thanked Uncle George and Annie for their hospitality and staggered out into the street. Fortunately, no one had to drive home.

Buddy and Ms. Lucy stayed behind to help restore order to Uncle George's house. As you might expect, Buddy was no help at all. He had another rum punch and fell asleep on the couch right next to Margarita.

A few weeks later, Uncle George and Annie had dinner with Buddy and Ms. Lucy. Immediately after dinner, Uncle George produced his diary and started reading.

October 30th -- The weather is definitely cooler now. We taped all the windows shut. The cold air cannot creep in. Outside may be cold but inside this house is nice and warm ... just like the Caribbean!

November 4th -- The weather channel reports that snow is on the way ... we cannot wait!!! We have never seen snow and it should be pretty exciting to see it for the first time.

November 11th -- It just started snowing! The first of the season and the first real snow we have ever seen. This is so exciting!! We just had to go outside and touch the snowflakes.

Annie cooked some Pelau and we sat by the window watching the soft flakes drifting down, clinging to the trees and covering the ground. Could never do anything like this in the Caribbean ... WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!

November 14th -- We awoke to a lovely blanket of pure white snow covering the landscape. What a FANTASTIC sight! Every tree and shrub is covered like a beautiful white mantle. We shoveled snow for the first time and loved it. We did our driveway and the sidewalk too.

Annie and I had our first snowball fight today. It was so much fun! We also made a snowman and took pictures to send to our friends back home.

Later, the city snowplough came along and accidentally covered up our driveway with compacted snow from the street. The driver smiled and waved. I waved back and shoveled again. Canadians are so friendly!!!

November 18th -- The temperature dropped below zero last night and it snowed another few inches. The cold weather is not so bad. We could deal with this. Not at all as bad as we imagined. A few small limbs on the trees snapped with the weight of the snow.

I shoveled our driveway again. Shortly afterwards the snowplough man came by and did his trick again. Much of the snow is now grayish brown and heavy.

November 19th -- Warmed up enough during the day to create some slush, which later became ice. Bought snow tires for both cars. I slipped and fell on my backside in the driveway, paid $130 for the Chiropractor, but fortunately, nothing was broken. More snow and ice expected.

November 20th -- Still cold. Annie's car can't start. We sold it and bought a 4 X 4 to get to work.

November 21st -- On my way to work, the 4 X 4 skidded into the guardrail and did considerable damage to the right fender. We had another few inches of the white thing last night. The vehicles have salt and grime all over it. More shoveling in store for me today! De dam snowplough man did his thing again. Watch me an' him!

Now, now Uncle George, no need to get all worked up over this snow. Before you know it, winter will be over and we'll be feeding the ducks by the lake. Christmas in this area is very nice. You and Annie should spend Christmas Eve with us. We'll drink lots of rum punch. Just dress warm and enjoy the season.

The next few weeks went by as a blur. Buddy and the family got busy with the usual Christmas activities. Shopping. Baking. More shopping. Christmas parties. Then there was the Christmas play at school. Kimmy was an angel and Norm was quite content to be a spectator.

On Christmas Eve, Buddy used a recipe from Uncle George and made two gallons of rum punch for their little get together. He tasted it and said, "Hmm! This is good! Santa may get a sip or two if he is lucky."

Buddy then gathered all his special Christmas records and waited patiently for Uncle George and Annie to arrive. To complement his efforts, Ms. Lucy prepared a large dish of her best Christmas cookies and other goodies.

Shortly after nine o'clock Buddy poured two glasses of rum punch and handed one to Ms. Lucy. The phone rang as soon as she took the first sip. Syl answered the phone and said, "Dad, its for you, Uncle George would like to speak with you."

"Merry Christmas Uncle George! Where are you?"
In a soft sheepish voice he said, "Sorry Buddy. We are not coming over tonight."
"What! Why not? Is something wrong?"

After a short pause, Uncle George said, "Buddy, I'm calling from the airport."
"The airport! What are you doing at the airport? Is someone coming for Christmas?"
"No!"
"Then what are you doing at the airport?"

"We are leaving. This place is too cold for us. We are going back to the Caribbean where it is nice and warm. We left a little present for you in your mailbox. Hope you like it. Goodbye Buddy. Give Ms. Lucy and the kids a hug for us."

Buddy turned to Ms. Lucy and asked, "Did you know anything about this?
"About what Buddy?"
"About Uncle George and Annie going back to the Caribbean tonight!"

Ms. Lucy's jaw dropped. After a moment she said, "I met them at the mall only a few days ago. Uncle George had a furious look on his face but Annie was busy shopping. She wanted everything to be just right for their first white Christmas. And, she even remembered that they were going to spend Christmas Eve with us.

Buddy opened the front door and returned with a little package. While tearing away the wrapping paper he said, "Uncle George left this in our mailbox." With a surprised look he declared, "It is his trusty little diary!"

"Buddy Meuillar, you can't read his diary; it is personal!"
"It is not personal! He's been reading it to the entire neighborhood and when they came here for dinner the other night we had to politely listen to every entry until November 21st."

"OK Buddy! Let's start from November 22nd."

November 22nd -- You believe dis? De first heating bill jus come! How de hell it come up to so much???

November 30th -- It is two flippin' degrees outside! An' more snow on de way. Every dam tree in de backyard go damage up. An' to crown it off, the power went out mos ah the night. We tried to keep from freezing to death wid candles, but one tipped over an' nearly bun dung the dam house.

Ah manage to put out de flames, but end up wid second-degree burns on meh hans an' ah nearly bun up meh eyebrows an' eyelashes. On de way to de hospital, de 4 X 4 skid off the dam road and we had to write it off.

December 5th -- But look at meh crosses nah! Dis snow ain't planning to stop soon. De ting comin' down and down as if it go never stop!! Whuh the hell is this?? Today, ah had to put on all de clothes dat ah own jus' to go to the mailbox. Dis is too much for me!

To make things worse, the snowplough man jus cover up meh driveway again. Ah tink he does hide 'round de corner and wait 'til ah finish shoveling, den he comes fas, fas, fas, an' cover up the driveway again.

If ah ever catch the idiot who does drive dat snowplough, ah tell yuh, ah go cross one on him. He go bawl like ten Tarzan when he get it.

December 10th -- De dam power went off again last night and the sump pump was full. It flow over in the basement and destroy all dem nice things ah bring from the Caribbean. The roof is now totally out a shape and look like it ready to cave in.

December 15th -- Another set ah snow wid ice and sleet!!! This ain't right! How do these people live here? Ah was waiting for the snowplough man but meh fingers got frozen and ah had to run inside. Ah go catch him next time!!!

December 18th -- Ah tink ah going snow-bline. Ah cyar feel meh toes an' ah din see de sun fuh weeks!!! An' guess whuh? De weatherman calling fuh more snow!!! Yuh believe dat??? An' wid de win chill it go feel like MINUS 30 flippin' degrees tonight!!!

December 24th -- This Caribbean Man goin' back home before this weather destroy me and Annie!!! If we kecth de early flight, we could be dung there for sum sweet, sweet Soca Parang on Christmas morning.

Canada could keep dey dam snow and dey white Christmas! Ah dreaming of ah WARM Christmas yes!