Ya gotta love a guy like my uncle Hank.

Nothing seems to faze him.  Even the worst of crises can cause him to look at the positives; he is one who is not easily excited.  He just figures things out in his own special way and goes on.  Nothing really seems to bother him.

Uncle Hank has always been that way.

Now me, on the other hand ... whenever things threaten to get sticky, I panic.  I'm just like my Daddy in that regard.  Mama, on the other hand, is easy going; she is just like Hank.  Hank is her younger brother; they have always been real close, even as kids, and that closeness continues to this day.

I wish I were like Uncle Hank: that way, I wouldn't have to worry about every little thing.  It's no wonder I have anxiety problems or that Daddy has high blood pressure and heart trouble: we let things get to us.  Meanwhile, Mama and her brother are two of the healthiest, happiest people we have ever known.  Now why can't things be like that for Daddy or especially for me??

When we lost our cow Ol' Red last year, Hank was the one who took care of him and sat by his side when he was so sick.  He didn't even leave his side, up to the moment he died.  He cried, but nothing like Daddy or I did.  Ol' Red was our best milking cow; but then he ate some poison our ratty neighbor put out, and he sickened; yet it was Hank who took charge and took care of things.  Daddy and I were basket cases; we didn't know what to do, but Hank sure enough did.  

Hank may not have had much of an education, but he sure is smart.  He got his smarts from God, he says.  He knows a lot more than people think he does, and that's what makes me respect him the way I do.

I just hope that when I get older, I end up like Uncle Hank 'cause he's a great guy, and he wouldn't hurt a fly, not even his own worst enemy!