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. Ricardo says:

    We went to university together prostaglandin e1 “I merely note that those schools that choose to remain aloof from their state counterparts only give ammunition to those who would like to put even stricter quotas on independent pupils’ access to our top, publicly-funded universities.

  2. Pasquale says:

    Where did you go to university? focusene real reviews Mr Miliband’s warned that housebuilders who hold undeveloped land would have their property seized by a Labour government. In a stark ultimatum, the Labour leader said developers with land banks would have to “use it or lose it”. He promised that Labour would “dramatically increase housebuilding” with 200,000 new homes a year, every year during the next Parliament. “We will say to private developers you can’t just sit on land and refuse to build,” he said. “We’ll give them a very clear message, either use the land or lose the land.”

  3. Demarcus says:

    How many would you like? taking 100mg clomid twins The security of products made by Chinese manufacturer Lenovo has been called into question by revelations that the UK and a host of other countries have banned use of the company’s equipment within intelligence and defence networks.

  4. Jefferson says:

    A few months pra que serve o tadalafil One “legitimate issue” worth watching is “cord nevers,” or younger people who never sign up for cable, he said. “This is an issue that will play out over the next 10-plus years, not the next three,” he said.

  5. Dylan says:

    What’s the current interest rate for personal loans? what is naproxen 500 mg used for EFH’s capital structure includes more than $32 billion ofdebt split up into various categories at the holding company ofits unregulated retail and merchant power units, and another$7.7 billion in senior and junior debt at Energy FutureIntermediate Holding Company LLC (EFIH), the parentof its regulated power distribution business, Oncor ElectricDelivery Company.

  6. Darrel says:

    Hello good day does l theanine cause diarrhea In a statement, Microsoft said changes Google had made to its search and other sites were responsible for the glitches. Despite this, Microsoft has now made changes of its own to fix the problem, which can be turned on by unticking an option in IE11 that makes the browser use “Microsoft Compatibility lists”.

  7. Thanh says:

    The line’s engaged paroxetine lower blood pressure Sunderland Echo provides news, events and sport features from the Sunderland area. For the best up to date information relating to Sunderland and the surrounding areas visit us at Sunderland Echo regularly or bookmark this page.

  8. Fredrick says:

    I’d like a phonecard, please gat pmp stim free review He was one credit short of graduating from Miami Beach High School, according to WPLG, and after high school, his sister told the affiliate that his only plan was to paint. She described an exposition he once held where he sold his paintings for a dollar apiece. “He called it the dollar menu,” she told WPLG. “He sold it for just a dollar, just to spread it around.”

  9. Heriberto says:

    How many are there in a book? prix du viagra en pharmacie suisse State and county emergency management officials have hardly begun to prepare actual damage assessments from flooding that has ravaged thousands of homes and killed at least eight people in a disaster zone in and around Colorado’s biggest urban centers.

  10. Lucky says:

    I’m doing a masters in law pygeum benefits for women “If he doesn't, the impression will be left that this is a government led by an out-of-touch prime minister who promised change but is someone who can always be relied upon to stand up for the wrong people.”

  11. Jocelyn says:

    I’m doing a phd in chemistry cialis with overnight delivery Hot on the heels of Samsung, LG Electronics Inc is planning to introduce a curved smartphone in November, theWall Street Journal reported. LG previously said it wouldintroduce such a model by the year-end.

  12. Rickey says:

    I sing in a choir where to buy alliums Get Covered America buttons are seen during a training session in Chicago, Illinois September 7, 2013 before volunteers canvas a Chicago neighborhood to talk with residents about the Affordable Care Act – also known as Obamacare. Picture taken September 7, 2013.

  13. Santiago says:

    A book of First Class stamps flonase side effects in children For example, falling bond prices have driven the plain-vanilla, diversified Vanguard Total Bond Market Exchange-Traded Fund down 2.5 percent in the three months ended on Monday and more than 2 percent year to date, negating its 2 percent yield. The fund tracks an index of most U.S. bonds and charges 0.10 percent annually for management expenses.

  14. Ellsworth says:

    Could you tell me my balance, please? qui a pris atarax pendant la grossesse Sky has said there is no Xbox One version at this stage: “We arecontinually looking at other connected devices in the market but don’t have any firm dates yet.”

  15. Kristofer says:

    Where are you from? buy generic nolvadex Since May 20 the Treasury has been operating under the Extra Ordinary Measures program and has used up over $250 billion through various actions that has to be repaid as soom as the debt limit is raised.

  16. Lloyd says:

    I’m retired ventolin inhalador dosis pediatrica During the fracas outside the island’s legislature, some of the demonstrators breached a police line and climbed over the fence of the legislative building. They briefly protest inside the compound before being dispersed. No arrests were reported.

  17. Wayne says:

    Enter your PIN avanafil prix pharmacie For example, Time Inc, a division of Time Warner Inc, the largest magazine publisher in the United States, was one of the last holdouts to join Apple’s newsstand. The standoff was because the world’s largest technology company did not want to share subscriber data with the publisher of Sports Illustrated and People.

  18. Antoine says:

    Have you got a telephone directory? eskalith cr 450 mg Rockwell Collins is counting on commercial demand to drivegrowth as the United States curbs defense spending. In its mostrecent quarterly earnings report, its sales were roughly 51percent government-related and 49 percent commercial.

  19. Albert says:

    Until August ventolin mouth ulcers “Our office has received thousands of calls and emails from around the 8th District and the majority have expressed that they don’t want the president’s health care law and they don’t want a government shutdown,” says Brittany Bramell, a spokesman for Boehner. “Ohioans want President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders to finally engage in bipartisan talks with Republicans on a common-sense way forward.”

  20. Bruce says:

    Another year testrosity canada
    The unsolicited fitness tips have been labelled an ‘appalling teaser’ by The Telegraph’s Dr Brooke Magnanti, who said: “I shudder at the thought that anyone less than 48 hours out from giving birth should want or have a ‘regime’ pertaining to weight loss at all, much less one endorsed by the weekly glossies. “

  21. Ralph says:

    I’ve been made redundant aricept tablets for dementia And companies go to some lengths to describe their products online. Customers looking at free-range chickens on the Benlai Shenghuo website, a 2012 start-up whose name roughly translates as ‘original life’, get details on the breed they are selecting and its diet, along with photos of the birds wandering on farms.

  22. Elizabeth says:

    I’d like to withdraw $100, please gnc coq10 200mg With the new update, navigation between screens produces an effect quite different from the static swipe of before. Now the icons zoom in, like opening credits of a science-fiction movie. Additionally, when you open an app, it feels like it is “exploding” toward you, Isom says.

  23. Jimmi says:

    I live here piso drenante megadreno Cross-border financing could potentially drastically reducefunding costs for Chinese firms and expose domestic banks tomore foreign competition, but would also provide Chinese banksan outlet to find new clients overseas.

  24. Delmar says:

    I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name bacproin ciprofloxacino 500 mg Earlier this year the Institute of Advanced Motorists disclosed that the Government’s spending on road safety campaigns had fallen from £19 million in 2008-9 to only £4 million in 2011-12.

  25. Jarrett says:

    I enjoy travelling zyprexa dopamine Some 1.8 million barrels per day of European capacity havebeen mothballed since 2009, according to Deutsche Bank, leavingaround 10.7 million bpd of operating capacity in the EuropeanUnion plus Norway.

  26. Carson says:

    What’s your number? can i take fexofenadine when pregnant Another key difference: Maryland is a judicial state, meaning all foreclosures must be approved by the courts which inevitably slows the process. In Virginia, a non-judicial state, trustees arrange to repossess homes on their own.

  27. Arnoldo says:

    I work for a publishers d anaxon elite series productions While jail time and large fines would be a thing of the past for residents under 18 caught with less than an ounce of pot, minors would be required to attend a drug and alcohol awareness program. Seventeen states in the nation have passed simiar laws decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

  28. Coco888 says:

    I wanted to live abroad over the counter medicine like imitrex However, a former senior U.S. official said Kerry appearing alone might also be viewed as a signal that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians is as deeply committed to the resumption of talks as the U.S. secretary of state himself.

  29. Homer says:

    We went to university together cipro film tablet 500 mg endikasyonlar俚how much does cipro 500mg cost GE, the world’s largest jet engine manufacturer, announcedmore than $26 billion in jet engine orders last month at theParis Air Show. Earlier this month, it closed on its nearly $3billion buyout of oilfield pump maker Lufkin, broadening itsofferings of pumps that pull oil and gas to the surface.

  30. Darnell says:

    I’m afraid that number’s ex-directory buy prednisone with paypal They were “most impressed” by Alibaba’s 61% revenue growth and nearly 50% operating margins. The analysts upped their valuation of Alibaba and therefore boosted their price target on Yahoo to $38 from $29.

  31. Merrill says:

    Could you give me some smaller notes? americanpharmacycompany.com From Thursday, when you first open the sport homepage on your phone, you will be redirected to our browser site instead of the wider, desktop site you currently use on your PC, laptop, tablet and mobile.

  32. Lamont says:

    Where do you study? where to buy kamagra uk forum That sort of tech, along long list of pricey personalization options that includes leather covered everything and air vent louvers painted to match the Cayman’s exterior color is even more telling of how the Cayman is encroaching on the 911 than the performance stuff. An 821-watt $6,520 Burmeister audio system is merely very loud icing on the cake.

  33. Thanh says:

    It’s a bad line kpa kamagra frn sverige Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s sovereign credit rating on Tuesday to just two notches above junk because of concerns about the economy, third largest in the euro zone, which has been dogged by extremely sluggish growth for more than a decade.

  34. Cooper says:

    I want to report a salbutamol syrup dosage for 1 year old “Obviously, turnovers are going to get you beat in this league. It is paramount that we don’t let that happen again,” Romo said. “We are going to have some hard teaching sessions going over this tape, and it will be good for guys.”

  35. Waylon says:

    I want to make a withdrawal allegra mg 180 A Russian government source confirmed that Mr Snowden had spent two days at the consulate, but insisted that he had approached the Russians on his own initiative after buying a ticket to Havana via Moscow.

  36. Shaun says:

    Do you play any instruments? yasmin p-piller pris In his first ever interview for a talk show, the comedian known as Lost Voice Guy uses this technology to chat about heckles, his meteoric rise to comedy fame and why disability plays such a big part in his new Edinburgh show.

  37. Laverne says:

    The manager triamcinolone spray coupon 3. “Apartheid” has become one of those fuzzy words that is used so much now that no one really understands why it’s used. But it must be bad because everyone uses it. Israel’s treatment of non-Israeli Arabs within its borders is a real problem that Israel must come to grips with. But let’s keep “Apartheid,” whatever it has come to mean these days, (though I’m sure you’ll define it in your own way) out of it. 

  38. Michael says:

    Could you transfer $1000 from my current account to my deposit account? diflucan 150 mg para que sirve Some uninsured people have filled out paper applications that will prolong the enrollment process by weeks. Organizers say most are content, however, to learn about benefits including federal subsidies and provide their contact information so they can act later when the online system improves.

  39. Ruben says:

    I’d like to pay this in, please generic propecia in usa GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan judge says that she and two other justices who convicted former dictator Efrain Rios Montt of genocide and sentenced him to 80 years in prison will receive protection.

  40. Vince says:

    I’ve just graduated bakblade 2.0 The anti-Morsi protesters celebrated into the early morning hours with fireworks in Tahrir Square after the announcement came that Morsi was ousted Wednesday night. Fearing a violent reaction by Morsi’s Islamist supporters, troops and armored vehicles deployed in the streets of Cairo and elsewhere, surrounding Islamist rallies.

  41. Graham says:

    I’ve got a very weak signal order albenza online In April 2008, the severed head and hands of Lithuanian migrant Jolanta Bledaite, was discovered on Arbroath beach after the body parts were dumped into the harbour in a suitcase

  42. Doyle says:

    What do you want to do when you’ve finished? quatrefolic Everton have opened the campaign with three consecutive draws but face what Martinez believes is the sternest possible test in the Barclays Premier League when Chelsea visit Goodison Park on Saturday evening.

  43. Mariano says:

    Another service? where to buy viagra jhb
    BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster that is 39 percent-owned byRupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, has previouslyoutbid rivals for both sports and movies content, using revenuefrom its more than 10 million customers. It retains the lion’sshare of the rights to Premier League soccer.

  44. Sterling says:

    Sorry, I ran out of credit sildenafil citrate viagra generic cheap SIR – What we have witnessed over this party conference season hasn’t been seen since the election of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party leader in 1975. The Tories and Labour have realigned themselves in ideological opposition to one another once again.

  45. Anthony says:

    I was made redundant two months ago crestor rosuvastatin 10 mg July 24 (Reuters) – Nasdaq OMX Group reported a 5.4percent decline in quarterly profit on Wednesday, mainly due tocosts from two recently completed acquisitions, but thetransatlantic exchange operator said one of the deals hasalready begun adding to earnings.

  46. Lucius says:

    How long are you planning to stay here? how long for lipitor to get out of system When I don’t have enough of it! Saying that, I was brought up not to get obsessed by it. It was also a time when any conversation about money, including discussing what each other earned, was considered rude.

  47. Reyes says:

    It’s a bad line probenecid and coumadin interaction One issue for prospective buyers is to line up banks thatcan fund the debt guarantees that suppliers of the industry’slarge machinery generally have to provide. These are to coverpre-installation performance guarantees and warranties once themachines have started operating.

  48. Antione says:

    I’m on a course at the moment grow max plus review Supporters of the Common Core standards, like U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, defend the sharp drop in scores, seeing it as a healthy development that should be applauded. We’re finally seeing the truth about our kids’ achievement, he says. But if the nation judged Duncan as he thinks teachers should be judged — by the rise or fall of student test scores — then he would be fired for presiding over a disaster.

  49. Arnold says:

    Could I borrow your phone, please? wellbutrin xl consumer reviews NEW YORK – Small business owners plan for growth this year but are closely tracking recent interest rate rises and any impact they might have on their business and customers, according to a spot survey of firms in the New York region.

  50. Wilton says:

    Hold the line, please redd barna oslo kontakt Republican lawmakers have seized on the test failure toargue against reductions in spending on missile defense by theObama administration. While the failure has sharpened concernsabout the program voiced over the years by Democrats.

Leave a Reply

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