Thankful Thursday #2

To continue on with the idea of saying thank you to our veterans for there service I bring you this Thankful Thursday. I am thankful for my uncles who were all veterans and are no longer with us.

1) Cornelius "Terry" Terry: was married to my mom's sister, Linda. He was a veteran of Korea and Vietnam. He was a great man. He was black and married my aunt in the early 1970's when interracial marriage was still very taboo. He held my aunt while she cried because her parents disowned her for marrying him but was man enough to forgive them when they wanted to be a part of his children's lives. He made the best fried chicken and I always said he could have given KFC a run for their money. He passed away in January 1998.

2) Kenneth Dario: was married to my dad's second oldest sister, Patricia. He was a World War II veteran. He was a very funny man. Plus he loved to pinch all of our cheeks. In fact we taught my younger cousins to cover up their cheeks when they saw Uncle Ken coming. He always lied about his age so it was very funny that the funeral home messed up his memorial card and had the year he was born listed as 1945 instead of 1915. He passed away in May of this year.

3) Jesse Duke: was married to my dad's youngest sister, Pamela. He was a veteran of Vietnam. We lost him to a heart attack only a couple of weeks ago. He loved to golf and drink beer. He was very funny and I loved his southern accent. I always admired the way he accepted my aunt's children as his own in a way most people never do.

I am so thankful that my uncles all made the sacrifice to keep our country safe from harm. Until next time ....