August 9, 2008
Seven years ago, the Fortenberrys were blessed with a new Uncle. I don't remember the exact day that Auntie Jan started bringing Uncle Joe to our family get-togethers. I think Auntie Jan remembers that it was a going away party that we had for Jeff when he was headed off to the Army.
My first clear memory of Uncle Joe is of an Easter weekend. Jonathan was just a little guy. Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe brought my kids marshmallow shooters that they had fashioned out of PVC
pipe and duct tape. They were very crafty and I remember thinking that it was very thoughtful of them. It never occurred for me to think that it would be anything but barrels of good, clean fun! My mom, the realist, raised her eyebrows and looked at these marshmallow shooters skeptically. Jessie had great fun with hers. Jonathan wanted to have great fun with his. Really, he did. You see, the point of a marshmallow shooter is to load your shooter with a marshmallow and then blow it out the other end. One problem, my Jonathan didn't seem to know how to blow his marshmallow out. Seems he only knew how to spit. He kept gumming up his shooter. Nothing worse than a spitty marshmallow. Those marshmallow shooters made my kids' day and I remember thinking that it was so sweet of Uncle Joe (he actually wasn't Uncle Joe yet) to go to so much trouble for them.
pipe and duct tape. They were very crafty and I remember thinking that it was very thoughtful of them. It never occurred for me to think that it would be anything but barrels of good, clean fun! My mom, the realist, raised her eyebrows and looked at these marshmallow shooters skeptically. Jessie had great fun with hers. Jonathan wanted to have great fun with his. Really, he did. You see, the point of a marshmallow shooter is to load your shooter with a marshmallow and then blow it out the other end. One problem, my Jonathan didn't seem to know how to blow his marshmallow out. Seems he only knew how to spit. He kept gumming up his shooter. Nothing worse than a spitty marshmallow. Those marshmallow shooters made my kids' day and I remember thinking that it was so sweet of Uncle Joe (he actually wasn't Uncle Joe yet) to go to so much trouble for them.
Side note: that Easter was also the time that the self-appointed informant (every family has one and ours is Jessie) came up and said, "Hey Mommy, everyone told me not to tell you this, but JonJon drank out of Auntie Jan's glass." My mouth dropped and I started panicking as I tried to clarify if Jess meant that Jonathan drank Auntie Jan's wine. Jessie comes back with, "Yeah, they said you'd be upset and that's why I shouldn't tell you." Jonathan was going through a phase where he just picked up glasses and drank out of them. Didn't matter whose they were. I guess my family panicked.
We love Joe and we were excited when he and Auntie Jan were married. I am thankful for my sweet family and the love that they show us. They open up their home to us and we've had fun adventures together. We've been hiking, kayaking, sleeping in the FEMA trailer, eating lots of delicious meals and played some fun/crazy games together. (Jonathan loves Auntie Jan's biscuits and gravy! Ha Ha)
And, now the adventure takes us to Cancer. Not a road anyone wants to travel. Uncle Joe has Cancer and we are so sad for him and Auntie Jan. We have been sending all of our love, thoughts and prayers to Austin.
We love you Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe. We hope you can celebrate this special day.
Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles. ~Alex Karras
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