Scribblings

Brotherly Love

Uncle Walter (Kristin's great great uncle) sent a birthday card for her. He usually sends a check and a letter too. Most of his letters are pretty upbeat and generally has something in there about long ago friends or relatives and the New York Mets. This time, though, he had mostly sad news. He figured (correctly) that we'd want to know. Oma, his sister, had a small stroke on Jan 6. She wasn't able to call for help and laid on the bedroom floor until someone discovered she was in trouble the next morning. At that point, Oma was living in a room (with a private bathroom) in the Deutschplatte Residence. Oma likes to call it "the old folks' home".

Oma was taken to the emergency room at the hospital ... and was stuck there overnight because when Uncle Walter and a friend got to the hospital, it was January 8. Oma was still confused at that point. Uncle Walter said that she was imagining "all kinds of weird things." It gave me a big lump in my throat to imagine Oma in that condition. It was a spooky reminder of what happened to my grandma when she was hospitalized. Oma is 93 and so I know her time is coming sooner than I'd like but I'm not ready for this.

There was other news of concern but I wanted to reflect on Oma and Uncle Walter, the oldest and the youngest of all the siblings. Oma was born in 1910 and I've heard many stories about how she helped to raise her younger brothers, George, Fred and Walter. There was a baby sister, too, but she died not long after birth. Oma and Uncle Walter have always seemed very close and I used to wonder if they had the usual sibling battles like I had with my brother and like the kids have with each other.

All the years I've known them, Uncle Walter has always visited Oma on Sundays. He is 83 now and lives in Queens. He used to drive his car over for his weekly visit. He would tease Oma and I could tell he loved her very much. He'd show up on other days as well, especially if Oma needed a ride somewhere. When he gave up driving, he began to take a bus from Queens to Franklin Square. Later, a friend of his would drive him to Oma's and that was easier for him when the weather was bad. Now this friend is moving to Germany and Uncle Walter is going to ride the bus again.

To me, that is real devotion. Uncle Walter is pretty healthy for being 83 but standing out there in the cold waiting for a bus is rough on him. He wants to see Oma and she looks forward to his visits.

Neither one of them is too much into TV and so they'd just chat. Oma always had dinner ready for her brother. Sometimes the visit was turned into a family Uncle Walter (Rich's great uncle and so Kristin's great great uncle) sent a birthday card to Kristin. He always sends a check and always sends a letter with the card. Kristin must have forgotten to tell us about the letter and check because TB found them on the table.

Anyway, Uncle Walter sent along some difficult news he occasion and the rest of us would come for dinner and cake. There were always stories about "Uncle Fred who's dead" and Uncle George who had a "drinking problem".

It warms my heart to see a brother and sister care that much for each other and they are both alone. Uncle Walter never married and lives by himself. I asked them once why they didn't just share a home together and they laughed and said they were too old and set in their ways to move. But what will happen to Uncle Walter if Oma dies? Okay, that's enough ... I don't want to think about that now.

Some more about Oma.

Posted by Cassie at January 23, 2004 11:35 AM