I was expecting a synopsis of my brother’s recent vacation to North Carolina when I saw his e-mail but it contained Uncle Skip’s sudden death last Saturday. I don’t know any details sadly yet I hope Brian will clue me in, especially on how to send my condolences to Aunt Colleen.
When I was growing up in Illinois, Uncle Skip, Aunt Colleen and their family lived upstate in Ottawa, IL. We used to see them at least every year until we moved away to Houston or they moved to Tampa, I can’t remember which happened first. Brian and I always enjoyed hanging out with our cousins Dana and Denise because they had every board game we’d seen on Saturday morning TV in the Seventies. David was already a teenager so he never really bothered with us. Hanging out with Uncle Skip was another experience due his prankish nature and wit.
As little kids we didn’t quite get his behavior until we were teenagers in 1985 when everyone came together during the death of Grandma Maggi. A great example was the town of Minooka (where Grandma Maggi lived) using its Civil Defense siren to signal the start of the 10 PM curfew. When it went off, Brian and I jumped out of our seats and turned to the window. Skip chuckled and asked, “Looking for the cloud?” It didn’t feel too funny at the time since we had just finished living in North Dakota, a place with 300 silos and one of the first places the Soviet Union would vaporize. Aunt Colleen got back at him later in the Summer when she told us about a fart prank he pulled on her in a department store. Now I know where I get that instinct from. Not everything funny Skip did was malicious. He knew great jokes and he owned a talking bird which spouted a flurry of profanity when it was in the mood. I think the bird’s bad habit was primarily caused by it overhearing the movies on HBO.
Besides his humor, Uncle Skip was an outspoken guy, skeptical of authority and occasionally said what others were afraid to say aloud. Unfortunately, this trait came out at Grandma’s funeral regarding the Baptist minister’s eulogy. A non-relative asked how was it and before Aunt Letty could answer, Skip said, “He was recruiting.” You could see the animated daggers coming out of Letty’s eyes at Skip. I’m sure his flippant remark widened the Catholic v. Baptist divide in the Maggi family a bit. I was 17 then and thought, it was better he said it than me, I shared his sentiment.
Sadly, the funeral was the last I saw of Uncle Skip in person. I only caught bits and pieces of his whereabouts and doings afterwards, namely him being in Florida. I know there were cards for graduations, etc. from time to time. And just like Uncle Chief, I wish I had more adult interaction with him now. He last saw me when I was a smartass, know-it-all teenager in the Eighties. I still enjoyed his company because he didn’t treat me like I was completely stupid, which I appreciated. He probably kept me off balance with his recently acquired ethnic, anti-Reagan and Disney jokes.