Wednesday, January 17, 2024
I have so many good memories of my Uncle Duane and Aunt Charlotte. At 6 years old, I was the ring bearer in their wedding and we stayed close throughout our lives. They visited with our family numerous times in Arizona and Indiana, we always had such great times. As a young man I would stay weeks at a time with my uncle and aunt when they lived in both Decatur, Illinois and Flint, Michigan. We’d go camping, fishing and sightseeing.
One of my favorite memories of Uncle Duane was a running race that I challenged him to while in Flint. I’ll have to set this up a little. I was probably 11 years old at the time and what back then they referred to as husky (now it’s just fat.) Back then Uncle Duane wore these special shoes as a result of foot surgery he had went through, the shoes resembled Herman Munsters boots, he also worked really long hours in those days. One evening when he came in from work I brought up the race again, he said “let’s go do this”. I expected him to go change out of his dress clothes and those funky shoes but that wasn’t the case. We lined up in the street in front of the house with Aunt Charlotte as the starter (wonder what the neighbors thought) the race was on. We ran two blocks up the street and back, my most vivid memory of this is, before I reached the turn he’s passing me coming back, still in his tie, dress pants and Herman Munster shoes. I was reminded of this event quite often when our paths crossed.
I could go on and on about my uncle and aunt and the kindness they’ve shown my family and I over the years. I’m glad they were apart of our lives.
Mickie Dowell
