Uncle John

Below are some old pictures that our cousin Jerry sent us of John Myers my great-uncle. They were taken in 1968. Uncle John was my Grandma Nellis' brother. He worked in construction as long as I can remember. In the below pictures he is building a barn. Uncle John used to dig basements as well. With a shovel. They don't make them like him anymore. Born in 1907.

This man had a big influence on my life. He was the closest thing I had to a grandpa as I grew up. My Dad's dad died before I was born and my Mom's dad died when I was very young so Uncle John played a role in my life much like a grandpa would. Both my parents and I and both of my grandma's and Uncle John all lived in the same house most of while I grew up.

I have many memories of both Uncle John and my Dad working in ditches and holes like this when I was young. This was a common site for me.

I remember well the stories Uncle John told about living through the great depression and how once while he was traveling around looking for work he was so hungry he ate grass. Which, he said was a big mistake because he then came down with a terrible bout of diarrhea.

Watching Uncle John straighten bent nails taught me to be frugal. I heard someone once say in regards to raising kids, "it's not so much as what is taught as what is caught". I picked up on those kinds of things when I was a kid and to this day it drives me nuts to throw out bent nails or things that still have a lot of life in them.

I don't have time for a long post here. I could write a ton about days gone by and of the people I loved and who are now gone. Uncle John passed away in 1991 the first of all his siblings. An entire generation of our relatives passed away beginning with Uncle John. They are all greatly missed.

Maybe sometime I will tell about the others.