Uncle Jerry- Now a TV Project
Here is a small slice of Uncle Jerry- enjoy!
He put the potato pancakes in the microwave and set them to radiate for five minutes. He got a Pepsi from the fridge and sat in his favorite chair. He was tired from feeding the 5000+ animals he had on the farm, and he just wanted to put up his feet and rest. He always felt comforted in this chair, especially when he thought about his mother dying in the same chair. He pushed his glasses back on his head and closed his eyes. Then his heart exploded.
Down below, in the central part of the barn, thousands of birds, reptiles, rodents, dogs, cats, turkeys, pigs, and various critters cried for him, but he was gone.
Within 48 hours, the police would find his body. His vet had called them, concerned that he had missed an appointment for a paranoid parrot he was breeding. They started the search for the next of kin.
The call came at 2:00 p.m. on a Thursday; I had just started a new job. My sister Dawn called and was crying hysterically. She had been in a permanent state of hysteria since she found out she was pregnant for the second time. I couldn’t understand her initially, but the words began slowly sinking in. My Uncle Jerry had died. I didn’t know what to feel. He was my favorite Uncle, yet he was the most elusive man in our family. He always kept a great distance from everyone, though we constantly reached out to him, and now he was dead. My first thoughts scared me. He was only 60; I was 35, only 25 years difference. Did I only have 25 years left? God, I hope not. I was beginning to understand life and was looking forward to the kids moving out. Everyone in my family seemed to kick the bucket young, but I planned to hold on long enough to be a problem for my children. It was the only revenge that made sense. Then, I grew despondent. My very first waking memory was of Uncle Jerry. I reminisced as my sister blabbered on.
My mom went to give birth to my little sister when I was two and a half. My grandparents went with her as my Dad had already gone AWAF (absent without a family). Jerry had been elected to watch me for the day. He bought me an ugly clown doll with a half-inch steel wire running through it so you could bend it and a Styrofoam ball for a head. I hated it. I was pissed. This guy was weird, never around, and now he oversaw me? Being the oldest, I was supposed to be the center of everyone’s universe, so what was so important that my mom and grandma had to be gone all day? I didn’t want a baby sister to play with; I had a dog. I removed the clown’s head and used the wire to rip a hole in the back seat of Jerry’s new car. Sensing my unhappiness and not wanting to sacrifice more of his vinyl, he took me to his farm.
I got over the baby blues the minute we pulled up. Wonderment and awe set in. It was like a zoo, only better than a zoo. There were thousands of beautiful birds, big and small: parrots, finches, cockatiels, chickens, geese, turkeys, peacocks and exotic plumage. There were fifteen dogs, wild cats, and three little pigs all running amok in his yard. Reptiles more giant than a car, including boa constrictors, chameleons, monitors, and a substantial 60-year-old tortoise, lived in a large outroom. Also housed here were the food sources: thousands of mice, rats, and hamsters: grubs, crickets, worms, seeds, and fruit of every size, and a bushel of lettuce.
On the roof sat a spider monkey surveying the farm. He sat on the eves of the house and then hurried down to sit on my shoulder. I was terrified yet so curious.
I spent the day being shown how to feed and care for the animals. I even got to clean cages. I learned that when the big tom turkey jumped on the back of the momma turkey, he wasn’t hurting her; that was how my sister got here!
The worst day of my life turned into my favorite. Although I was only a toddler, I remember every detail and became an animal aficionado.
But now I must deal with Uncle Jerry’s living legacy.