Vignette this Month: Eulogy to Uncle Shorty
I really regret that I am not able to attend the funeral of my Uncle Shorty. I could not rearrange my flight schedule to arrive on time for the services. I want to thank Harvey for his willingness to read the following:
Many of you knew my uncle as Ray, but from earliest youth until the present, I knew him as "Shorty." I would like to share a few memories with you of this kind, quiet soul.
As a boy of about 8 or 9, Uncle Shorty taught me how to fish, bait the hook and on a few occasions remove the fish. We both knew that my career path was not destined to be a fisherman.
As a young man he enjoyed hunting. He would sometimes give Mom one of his trophies which we had for dinner. We always had to be careful to not bite into a pellet. He also provided us with rabbit. Only when I grew older and went to gourmet restaurants did I learn what a delicacy rabbit is.
One year during squirrel season Shorty shot one and discovered that there were babies in the tree nest. He climbed up and rescued them and presented one of them to me to raise. He explained what I needed to do to feed it. That gray squirrel became my favorite pet of all time. I raised it for over a year constructing in my backyard a large pen from old screen doors. One day I came home for lunch, I think I was in sixth grade, and decided to play with him before returning to class. He would not go back into his pen. I was afraid I would be tardy and left. Yes, he was gone upon my return. About a year later a lone gray squirrel came up to me, stood there, and officially bid me goodbye. Over the years the neighborhood of gray squirrel population grew rapidly. He was a busy boy.
While in junior high my uncle taught me how to fry an egg properly; I still use his techniques today. (Ed.: He remained a bachelor until well into his 50s.)
In high school Shorty introduced me to one of his passions, raccoon hunting. I remember the fun and excitement as well as the bitter cold. I don't think I have ever been as cold as on those late hunts until midnight, dogs braying, also knowing I had to be up to school the next day. Mom and Dad had the rule that no matter what time I returned, school was a must.
My final anecdote is a bit humorous. During my adolescence a French movie came out with a rising star named Bridget Bardot. The movie was called And God Created Woman (1957), extremely tame by today's standards. Of course, all my friends had heard about it and definitely wanted to see it. But how? As luck would have it, Mom and Dad were at the gift show in Chicago and Grandma Stevens was watching us. My buddy Dave and I decided to ask Shorty if he would take us to the local drive-in where the movie was showing. We really didn't inform him about the content. What an education Dave and I got that night. Shorty had little to say, but I think he too enjoyed it. We kept that venture a secret for many years.
Throughout adulthood Shorty and I have remained in contact through a variety of ways. But I want to close with the simple statement that I loved him and appreciate forever the experiences he provided and the lessons he taught me. On this your birthday, may you enjoy eternity with your Creator.
(Raymond "Shorty" Stevens was buried on his 87th birthday.)
|
The Patriarchs. |
|
A view of the Virgin River from the hiking bridge |