Uncle Billy and Dennis

billyanddennis
Uncle Billy is our fathers brother. Holy crap… we have an uncle hanging around?! Dennis is our cousin. Son of Geraldine Hartman Jones. Billy is struggling with his health in a rehab somewhere in Los Angeles. Dennis went to visit him. I wrote about Uncle Billy four years ago HERE. with some crazy strange blog title: “Put your arms around me for Gods sake” and at the time I was angry at my fathers brother because he just nonchalantly walked right out of our lives and never ever once looked back.
So ironically 40 years ago I rode on the “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland in California with Billy and just recently last night got off the phone with him for the first time since.

Right after Gerry found this blog and the Hartman’s and Jones reconnected and right before her untimely death before I was going to visit her in Las Vegas, I spoke to her on the phone. I remember she told me how upset she was at that blog post “Put your arms around me for Gods sake” and she really defended her brother and also told me that my cursing and some the sexual things I had wrote on this ridiculous blog were totally uncalled for.

Talking with Uncle Billy I heard my father’s voice. I heard my Grandfather’s toughness but most of all I heard Uncle Billy. He is his own man that made his own choices and created his own life and really didn’t need to stay “connected” to Joan and her ten kids. He had that right. He owed us nothing and we certainly owed him nothing. I just thought it strange that not once did he just think to check in on his 10 nieces and nephews that tragically lost their father at such an early age? But that’s ok, even though we were little kids, we didn’t go out of our way to check in on him. Damn, I still sound bitter here, don’t I? Too bad.

It was only by pure luck and internet hocus pocus that Aunt Gerry searched her own name and found this blog because I hoped she would. My reverse finding tagging trick worked. Through Gerry I have rediscovered our long lost cousins, Robert, Diane and Dennis. All of us have lived our lives and roller coasted the ups and downs that it can bring. Billy in particular had a life threatening disease, polio, attack him at the age of five. This is one rough way to start your life. Dennis is quite a story himself and an outright damn miracle of recovery. I even posted a movie made about him on this blog HERE

It’s a small world after all INDEED when your fathers brother is still around even after 44 years four months and three days after his untimely death.

My cousin Dennis and me in the jaws of Disneyland 1975

My cousin Dennis and me in the jaws of Disneyland 1975

In the Summer of 1975 I was an awkward teen boy going through puberty from hell when our uncle Jay Jones died. I remember Dennis calling me up and crying about it to me. That Summer his mother Gerry, insisted that I come out there to be with them. Her greatest concern was that as she worked she would be leaving young Dennis alone. I really didn’t want to go. I was scared of everything at that age. I’m still scared of everything at my current age of 55.

The agreement was Gerry was going to pay for my plane fare to California there and mom was going to pay for it on the way back. The other agreement at my insistence was that I was only going to stay a couple of weeks. Well I ended up staying the entire Summer and almost ended up living there forever. Turns out when it was moms turn to pay for the fare back, she didn’t have the money. And thus began the non-relationship of mom and Gerry. You see, money destroys relationships quicker than a hurricane hitting a double-wide.

The day I left mom had to give me a ride to the airport and as the time grew closer and closer for the plane to leave, mom sat at the kitchen table getting drunker and drunker on white cans of Budweiser beer. I was sure I was going to miss the plane or that we would get into a horrific crash on the NJ Turnpike half way to Newark airport. Finally I just yelled “MOM we have TO LEAVE!” which was strange for a boy that didn’t want to go.

Needless to say I made the plane. Everything was pure magic after that. Pure absolute magic that I will NEVER forget. It was the first time I rode on a plane and it was crystal blue skys and puffy white clouds out my window seat. The stewardess treated me like a king because I was a 15 year old boy alone. I couldn’t believe how BIG and how BEAUTIFUL our country was from up there. When I arrived in LA and got off the plane there were hipsters and hippies and PALM TREES, California is not of this planet. It is it’s own beautiful world of color, neon lights, texture and gorgeous sunsets. Aunt Gerry was always a woman that loved to go out and do things! And that we did. She took me to Disneyland, we went to see Jaws in a huge theater in LA which just blew me away as a movie (now the special effects are laughable!) I was very fortunate to have Gerry take me that Summer. I left all my brothers and sisters in the groggy hot depths of Carteret as we went to Reno Nevada and played Kino for hours.

It was here I did see Uncle Billy for the last time. He was always so distant but that’s just him. Our uncle is struggling to walk now and he is full of memories. My phone call with him wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I was looking for the past again. I wanted to hear intricate stories of him and our dad running down back alleys of Westfield and getting into trouble. I wanted to hear Grandpa Hartman yell at them for not eating their peas. I wanted to see Grandma Hartman shopping at the A&P and squeezing oranges. I wanted to see them all riding to upstate NY in that station wagon they had.

Instead we talked about polio and prostates and how he was a salesman for AllState Insurance company his whole life. But that was ok. It was great to speak to him. And in this “small world afterall” he ended our conversation with … please call again.

About George C. Hartman

Redesiging design, coloring outside the lines, rolling down hills, figuring out strange people, dreaming in black and white, photographing in black and white, juggling, body surfing, fantasy football, painting, design, digital art and photo manipulation, green oceans, blue oceans, museums, discovering small towns, biking, beach, relationships that tear my heart out, bad poetry, movie making and BLOGGING
This entry was posted in cousins, HERITAGE, the beginning and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

6,532 Responses to Uncle Billy and Dennis

  1. Joesph says:

    I’m from England where to buy generic cialis online canada “When he heard the verdict, it was a moment for pause. It really struck him. He felt justice was served. It doesn’t correct all the other wrongs that he believes occurred, but he was visibly moved by it. He came into the visiting room, and when I asked if he was okay, he looked down and was pretty choked up with emotion.”

  2. Reyes says:

    Could I ask who’s calling? can i take two 150 mg wellbutrin xl Clinton’s work with the family foundation has kept her ties to major donors active, as her family has hosted and planned fundraisers for the group in Washington, San Francisco, London, and New York’s tony Bridgehampton. She also has also helped raise money for Terry McAuliffe, a close friend running in a tight race for governor of Virginia.

  3. Clemente says:

    What university do you go to? high off ibuprofen All of that undid three quarters of solid football from the Giants. Sure there were mistakes, there was a defense that surrendered a whopping 441 yards to Chip Kelly’s fast-break offense and there were some iffy coaching decisions by coach Tom Coughlin, but somehow, someway, the Giants had hung tough for so long in this one.

  4. Russel says:

    Do you play any instruments? tinidazole giardia dogs The website said the storm caused an external wall of the school’s O’Brien Athletic Center to collapse and destroyed part of the roof. It also damaged several other buildings, including the Dauby Science Center and the Ralph M. Besse Library. Many trees were uprooted or destroyed and other campus facilities had minor damage.

  5. Floyd says:

    I study here medrol uses for dogs The 10 powerful regional utilities, which still supplyaround 90 percent of Japan’s electricity – even with thecountry’s nuclear industry virtually idled since the 2011disaster – are expected to be broken up intoseparate power generation and distribution companies anyway by2020.

  6. Carlton says:

    The manager voltaren ibuprofen gel The verdict by a jury of six women in the trial of former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman reverberated around the country and rocked the convention of 3,000 national, state and local officers and members.

  7. Darin says:

    I saw your advert in the paper erexor male enhancement
    The FDA found that illnesses at four restaurants were tracedto Taylor Farms. The agency said it will be conducting anassessment of the company’s processing facility in Mexico to tryto learn the probable cause of the outbreak.

  8. Haywood says:

    Thanks funny site tadalista 20 mg “If women who are victims of domestic violence try to protect themselves, the Stand Your Ground Law will not apply to them,” wrote Brown, who added, “If you are black, the system will treat you differently.”

  9. Jefferey says:

    How many days will it take for the cheque to clear? viagra and cialis sample pack Kate Hudson said she ‘wouldn’t count’ out the idea of marrying rocker boyfriend Matthew Bellamy – and for good reason. She’s engaged! The actress confirmed her new relationship status on the ‘Today’ show, when host Matt Lauer asked to see Hudson’s left hand, which was sporting a giant diamond ring. ‘This is new! I’m engaged,’ Hudson said.

  10. Samual says:

    I’m on a course at the moment flucloxacilline mylan 500 mg en zon The indictment said Martoma was new to the hedge fund when he emailed a list of doctors serving as clinical investigators on the drug trial to an expert networking firm, asking the firm to try to arrange consultations with them. According to the indictment, an employee of the expert networking firm notified Martoma the next day that the nine clinical investigators who had responded to the firm’s inquiry had all declined the proposed consultation, citing a “conflict of interest.”

  11. Shelton says:

    International directory enquiries clindamycin hcl 300 mg capsule reviews Coal mining has become a central issue in the 2014 race, in which McConnell is being called perhaps the most vulnerable congressional Republican. And Grimes taking the same side of the issues as McConnell could hurt Democrats’ efforts to oust a top congressional Republican leader.

  12. Willard says:

    How much will it cost to send this letter to ? alan grahams caravans Its new development will have three residential tower blocksincorporating 1,460 luxury apartments, and three hotels to beoperated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, he said. It willhave 11 penthouses including two VIP penthouses with privategarden terraces, a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi.

  13. Deandre says:

    The United States cleocin klindamisin fosfat That said, O2 has launched its “4G Phone Promise”, which means that anyone who buys an iPhone 5 from O2 between September and 31 March can upgrade during their contract to “get their hands on a new phone any time they want”. That’s not quite as good as it sounds, however, as O2’s deal sees the firm offering a 25 percent discount on remaining line rental charges.

  14. Scott says:

    My battery’s about to run out rogaine 4 months results According to the DA’s office, Jane Doe, as the Kenyan woman is being identified for the time being, began working for Alayban in March 2012 in Saudi Arabia. On May 6, 2013, Alayban, who has traveled frequently between her home country and Southern California, where many wealthy Saudis have second homes, brought the maid into the country after securing a work visa for her. According to the victim, she was then forced to do cleaning for eight family members in four apartments for $220 a month with no days off.

  15. Dannie says:

    How long have you lived here? cardura 4 etken maddesi In the works for several years, the idea has been seizedupon by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose party is expected towin a Sunday upper house of parliament election, as a way torestore a halo of cool that surrounded Japan Inc and its cutting-edge technological marvels of the time, such as theWalkman.

  16. Rhett says:

    good material thanks macrobid dosage for cats “Sales have nevertheless now risen in 13 of the past 14 months, the exception being last March, indicating that shoppers have not been deterred from spending by issues such as the payroll tax rise at the start of the year and worries about the fiscal cliff, as many had feared.

  17. Kenneth says:

    Have you seen any good films recently? do you need prescription zovirax cream The quickest course would be for the Senate to pass the bill by unanimous consent, but that requires getting a commitment first from all 100 senators not to offer any amendments that could block passage in the House.

  18. Modesto says:

    Not in at the moment skelaxin 800 mg tablet TheWelsh government pledged a loan guarantee of 100 million poundsto keep it afloat.

  19. Agustin says:

    How many are there in a book? mobicity shipping time The space agency’s All-sky Fireball Network currently consists of 12 cameras. Six of them are in the Southeast (spread across Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee), while two apiece are in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Mexico.

  20. Wilbur says:

    What do you want to do when you’ve finished? ciprofloxacin tablets ip 500mg uses Polls released this week show Republicans taking a greater share of the blame, with a Washington Post/ABC News poll finding 70 per cent disapprove of the Republican handling of the shutdown, up from 63 per cent a week earlier.

  21. Branden says:

    Have you got any ? prescription pepcid dose “He’s tough. He was on his game tonight and keeping us all off balance,” Napoli said about Verlander, who did not yield a hit until two outs in the fifth inning. “I got him into a 3-2 count and put a good swing on a pitch and was able to get it.”

  22. Michael says:

    Is this a temporary or permanent position? augmentin 375 mg cost Col. Abdikadir Mohamed, a senior police officer inMogadishu, said that despite the statements by al Shabaab on theidentities of the foreign forces, he still believed theattacking troops were American and their target was a seniorforeign al Shabaab official.

  23. Luke says:

    I’d like to open a business account manforce tablet ke fayde hindi me Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says the fact that the fatwa was never written down is irrelevant because Islam is a religion where oral rulings can be more important than written ones.

  24. Taylor says:

    How do I get an outside line? bronax meloxicam “It’s going to be fun. We have a lot of veterans coming back, but there’s going to be a lot of things that we’re going to have to evaluate,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of players that will get that opportunity.

  25. Ava says:

    A financial advisor can i take ibuprofen with naproxen sodium If you would like to gain access to our newspaper article archive — with editions dating back to 2004 — you can do so by purchasing a subscription. Once you purchase a subscription, you can access articles from any device (PC, iPhone, iPad or alternative mobile device*) simply by logging in with your email address, Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account.

  26. Freddy says:

    I’m not working at the moment viagra for sale in jhb The White House announced last week that the president would visit Amazon’s Chattanooga fulfillment center to give the first in a series of policy speeches on the “better bargain for the middle class.” The speech at Amazon will focus on manufacturing, high-wage jobs and overall American job creation.

  27. Kaylee says:

    Could you please repeat that? gabapentin 600 mg tablet cost However, the project is stalled as TransCanada waits for afinal decision from the Obama administration as to whether itcan proceed. That is expected later this year, five years afterthe company’s initial application for a presidential permit.

  28. Norman says:

    What’s the exchange rate for euros? pristiq liquid form Even without a new round of hikes, the strain is already being felt, as evidenced by data suggesting mothers are letting child-minders go after tax breaks were tightened in 2013 and a growing number of firms falling behind on payroll tax.

  29. Jerome says:

    I’m retired para que sirve diclofenaco 1 gel Police said Anna Benson was armed to the teeth and gave them a bizarre explanation about why she was wearing a bulletproof vest, telling them she was trying to get it to “mold to her body.”

  30. Manual says:

    I’ll put him on aspirine maroc Inflation in the single currency area will ease in thecoming months after price pressures fell further from thethree-year lows hit in May, an indicator designed to predictcyclical trends showed earlier this month.

  31. Olivia says:

    I like watching football kleem vitamin c serum review This comes from our ad serving technology and is used to track how many times you have seen a particular ad on our sites, so that you don’t just see one advert but an even spread. This information is not used by us for any other type of audience recording or monitoring.

  32. Garland says:

    Could you ask her to call me? furosemide 40 mg lasilix The “Toxic” singer’s eighth album is just one of a series of big releases by the top ladies of pop — Gaga’s “Artpop” is due Nov. 8, Perry’s “Prism” will be out Friday and Cyrus’ “Bangerz” landed Oct. 4.

  33. Wilford says:

    I’d like to withdraw $100, please static caravans for sale in new quay wales I guess going from 10 trillion nation debt to 17 trillion is really reducing the deficit! So how much money are we projected to spend this year and next? Obama spends more each year, so if he says I will reduce that a little bit, even though still spending, you call that a reduction.

  34. Titus says:

    What do you like doing in your spare time? patient reviews of avodart The news of Bush’s blocked artery came as somewhat of a surprise, since the former president is known to exercise regularly and is considered to be in great shape. However, Campbell said other factors may have led to the blockage.

  35. Aubrey says:

    How much is a First Class stamp? do you have to have a prescription for cialis In the glory days, he recalled, Giants defenders chased down quarterbacks when Big Blue had a lead, essentially closing out games after dominant offensive performances. But these Giants have led for just 2:42 in the second half, so there have been few chances to tee off.

  36. Kaitlyn says:

    Enter your PIN cheap caravans for sale near me “I feel like we are battle-tested this year and we are ready to face elimination games — especially at home,” Longoria said. “We just have to continue to stay positive. If we take the same attitude we’ve had in win-or-go-home games where it’s just one game and you don’t think about the two games you’ve already lost, then I think we’re much better off.”

  37. Caden says:

    I’d like to cancel this standing order paypal propecia pill In 2007, coming off a 52-homer season that netted him a third AL MVP award, Rodriguez opted out of a 10-year, $252 million contract originally signed with the Texas Rangers. The Yankees nonetheless re-upped Rodriguez for 10 years and $275 million shortly thereafter.

  38. Brooke says:

    I love the theatre kamagra liquid Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Aegerion, which make drugs for rare diseases, has seen its share price fall more than 67 percent in the last 12 months, following several quarters of missed earnings and a string of reduced forecasts for its cholesterol-lowering drug Juxtapid.

  39. Megan says:

    Who do you work for? trazodone sleep maintenance Dr Carole Longson, NICE Health Technology Evaluation Centre Director, said: “With the number of PCIs being carried out increasing each year, this guidance provides the NHS in England and Wales with another important tool to enable it to treat people who have had a heart attack more effectively.

  40. Erick says:

    I’ve got a full-time job tegretol 200 cr yan etkileri Then there is the Mike’s Hard Lemonade plaintiff, Christopher Ratte of Ann Arbor, Mich., whose 2008 ordeal at a Detroit Tigers game landed his 7-year-old son in state custody and him being ordered out of his house.

  41. Anthony says:

    We used to work together dodow uk Companies reporting earnings on Monday include FoxconnInternational, whose shares fell 2.4 percent afterclosing on Friday at their highest in about two weeks. Chineseinternet giant Tencent Holdings, which reports interimearnings on Wednesday, rose 2.5 percent.

  42. Edgar says:

    There’s a three month trial period buy baclofen online australia She has also told him to let her know if he is not enjoying the course. “I worry that without the structure of school, or me to nag him out of bed, he may not attend lectures,” she says.

  43. Stevie says:

    History how old do you have to be to buy benadryl in texas “The bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, couldtake over banking resolution as soon as it has become a Europeaninstitution. But for that we would need to change the EuropeanConstitution,” he added.

  44. Maurice says:

    Could I take your name and number, please? cannibal alpha pct testosterone booster Lhota is struggling in the polls, but he was greeted warmly in the Bronx as he shook hands with voters and stopped to give high-fives to children outside a Pathmark supermarket with John Burnett, a Republican hoping to up-end the controller’s race and beat Democrat Scott Stringer.

  45. Cole says:

    I’ve got a part-time job stopping wellbutrin xl 150 mg The bank has drained a net 157.5 billion yuan ($25.89billion)since the week beginning Sept 30 as regulators havebegun to suggest they might begin to tighten money supply to puta cap on rising domestic inflation and housing prices. ($1 = 6.0835 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Pete Sweeney; Editing by Kim Coghill)

  46. Barton says:

    Your account’s overdrawn risperdal consta injection doses “We need to address and identify what the real problem is,” says Paul Fennewald, a former FBI investigator and homeland security expert. “How do we connect the dots? How do we identify ways to intervene when we have individuals who are on this fringe of mental health wellness?”

  47. Teddy says:

    How much is a Second Class stamp? can you take cephalexin for a toothache Buffett’s investment in 2008 cost Goldman dearly. Inaddition to the warrants, the bank had to give Berkshirepreferred stock that paid dividends of $500 million a year, orabout $15 a second. Goldman repurchased those shares fromBuffett at a premium in March 2011.

  48. Jefferson says:

    How many days will it take for the cheque to clear? betamethasone dipropionate cream hemorrhoids Domenici accused the state of escalating the situation by failing to agree to an emergency hearing in a lawsuit the ranch filed this week over what the suit contends was an improperly handled investigation.

  49. Xavier says:

    I’m not sure que es tone 360 contraindicaciones Stone became a celebrated figure among Protestant extremists when he launched a solo gun-and-grenade attack on an IRA funeral in March 1988. He threw grenades into a crowd of thousands, wounding about 60 people, and shot to death three men — among them an IRA member — who pursued him on foot. After running out of ammunition, Stone was nearly beaten to death by mourners before police intervened.

  50. Winfred says:

    I work for a publishers harga terramycin untuk kucing
    The FBI documents said Keyes frequented prostitutes during his travels and killed an unidentified couple in Washington state sometime between July 2001 and 2005. Keyes also told investigators he committed two separate murders between 2005 and 2006, disposing of at least one of the bodies in Lake Crescent, near Port Angeles, Wash.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *