My Dad (a/k/a Poppy) had several brothers and sisters. His younger brother was named John David, but most of us grew up calling him Uncle Dave. Each of them was a master at finding trouble in their own right, but together they were incorrigible. They loved to play… to tell jokes, to play pranks, to be silly, to sing, and to laugh. They were like two little boys who were always in trouble with someone over something. They had many joint misadventures, but each would tell of the other one’s antics as children as well.

Back in the Day

One recurring story I heard over the years was how one of them set fire to an old abandoned schoolhouse. I don’t know if it burned to the ground, if it was put out before anyone noticed, or if it is even true. I just know that the guilty party changed depending on who you asked about it. Ask Uncle Dave and I’d get, “Your daddy did that.” Ask my dad and I’d get a laugh and, “That was not me, that was your uncle Dave.” I guess I’ll never know the truth, but thankfully their arsonist tendencies did not continue into adulthood.

Another story I heard, and this one was backed up by another sibling so I know it to be true, was how Uncle Dave put salt in the sugar shaker one morning. When my dad shook the sugar onto his corn flakes and took a bite, he immediately spit it out. Dave laughed momentarily, at least until he got into hot water with Mammaw. Times were lean and you did not waste food in a house with several children. Uncle Dave was made to eat the entire bowl of corn flakes for breakfast. It seems that prank backfired pretty badly, yet it didn’t stop his trickster ways.

Dad was known by the children in the family as a jokester; he always had a joke or a trick to play on them. He made his granddaughters laugh daily by making up silly songs about them, or making funny faces at them. They adored him for that. He taught them jokes and tricks as well. He also taught my daughter how to whittle… a lost art.

An Unbreakable Bond

Together, and especially after a few beers, the two of them were almost unbearable. They sang in harmony, loudly. (Oh how they sang and sang and sang.) They loved to sing old hymns or anything by Hank Williams Sr. or George Jones. They held their beers with the car hood up while looking a the engine and talking about what might be wrong with it. This was the first step to fixing the car, you had to drink beer and talk about it first as this was the masculine way to handle things. They once showed up late to my grandparents’ anniversary party sporting matching mirrored sunglasses because everybody knows that no one can tell you’ve had a few when you’re wearing mirrored shades. They had a few run-ins with the law over the years. But even worse, they had to face their wives with what they’d done or where they’d been after the beer dried up. I’ve seen them both with their heads hung low on more than one occasion.

The two of them always said they had a special bond, this evolved into calling themselves the “bonded brothers”. When the movie Uncle Buck came out, I began calling my Uncle Dave, “Uncle Buck”. It just fit, he was my Uncle Buck. If they had a theme song, it would be Just Good ‘Ol Boys by Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley. That’s what they were, just good ‘ol boys. Always dodging trouble yet always looking for it, always meaning no harm but sometimes leaving a trail of destruction. None of it was intentional, it was just the two of them always looking for a laugh. And I love them both for that. They taught me not to take life so seriously and to stop and laugh every chance I get. Live, laugh, enjoy even during the hard times. That’s how you keep going. I know they’re causing a ruckus up in heaven these days, I only hope they don’t get kicked out for their shenanigans.