moosehead
Member
- Location
- South western Ontario
Has anyone ever had that strange relative that the family talks about and just shakes their heads and wonder why he or she were, well, different.
We had a so called strange relative that I found to be fascinating. My Grandmother told me the story of my Uncle Wallace.
Wally the Weird, as some of our relatives called him due to his rather colourful lifestyle.... fought in world war one where, according to Uncle Wally, he singlehandedly captured a hill overlooking the allies and captured 12 enemy soldiers. The fact the enemy soldiers had been drinking all night might have assisted Uncle Wally in the capture.
After the war, he got into rum running whatever that was and became rather rich in the import/export business. Not sure what it was he imported and exported but whatever it was it was very lucrative. He claimed he was friends with one Alphonse Capone...Big Al he called him...And through Big Al purchased ( quietly) beer for all his friends and, as it turned out, customers who paid a pretty penny for the beer. He also said he knew King George V....met him at a pub in London where the King would go to get away from the Wife....
His wanderlust was never ending and he seemed to always be in some exotic country running an unknown business which eventually, once again according to my Gram, led him to leave which ever country he was in rather quickly.
He would appear home once in a while, each time with a different woman on his arm each one from a different part of the world. It was, according to my Gram, like the League of Nations. As far as remembering their names my Gram told me she started to write the names down on a pad but eventually gave up....Too many names and not enough pages, apparently.
Uncle Wally tried to enlist in the armed forces when WW2 started but was turned down due to his age. He was highly insulted. He decided to do something and he announced he was leaving to fight those damned no good nazis. So he packed a bag and disappeared going off, we assumed, to win the war. And, that was the last we heard of Uncle Wally.....For about four years. Then one day there was a knock on the door at my Gram's house....I was there visiting her for the weekend and I ran to answer the door. And there stood this imposing figure. It was Uncle Wally with, as usual, a very exotic woman.....The following hours were to a very young kid so exciting as Uncle Wally described his adventures while I sat on the lap of that very exotic lady friend of Uncle Wally. Her name was Suzy and I was smitten...But I digress.....
Anyway, after some time and other adventures Uncle Wally eventually decided it was time to settle down and find a place where he would be comfortable. He bought a large piece of property in Northern Ontario, built a rather large home and settle in there. He also erected a rather high fence to keep out the riff raff, as he so delicately put it. I assumed he didn't like visitors. Other than my Gram, my Aunt Irene and, of course, me.
Uncle Wally. What a guy.
We had a so called strange relative that I found to be fascinating. My Grandmother told me the story of my Uncle Wallace.
Wally the Weird, as some of our relatives called him due to his rather colourful lifestyle.... fought in world war one where, according to Uncle Wally, he singlehandedly captured a hill overlooking the allies and captured 12 enemy soldiers. The fact the enemy soldiers had been drinking all night might have assisted Uncle Wally in the capture.
After the war, he got into rum running whatever that was and became rather rich in the import/export business. Not sure what it was he imported and exported but whatever it was it was very lucrative. He claimed he was friends with one Alphonse Capone...Big Al he called him...And through Big Al purchased ( quietly) beer for all his friends and, as it turned out, customers who paid a pretty penny for the beer. He also said he knew King George V....met him at a pub in London where the King would go to get away from the Wife....
His wanderlust was never ending and he seemed to always be in some exotic country running an unknown business which eventually, once again according to my Gram, led him to leave which ever country he was in rather quickly.
He would appear home once in a while, each time with a different woman on his arm each one from a different part of the world. It was, according to my Gram, like the League of Nations. As far as remembering their names my Gram told me she started to write the names down on a pad but eventually gave up....Too many names and not enough pages, apparently.
Uncle Wally tried to enlist in the armed forces when WW2 started but was turned down due to his age. He was highly insulted. He decided to do something and he announced he was leaving to fight those damned no good nazis. So he packed a bag and disappeared going off, we assumed, to win the war. And, that was the last we heard of Uncle Wally.....For about four years. Then one day there was a knock on the door at my Gram's house....I was there visiting her for the weekend and I ran to answer the door. And there stood this imposing figure. It was Uncle Wally with, as usual, a very exotic woman.....The following hours were to a very young kid so exciting as Uncle Wally described his adventures while I sat on the lap of that very exotic lady friend of Uncle Wally. Her name was Suzy and I was smitten...But I digress.....
Anyway, after some time and other adventures Uncle Wally eventually decided it was time to settle down and find a place where he would be comfortable. He bought a large piece of property in Northern Ontario, built a rather large home and settle in there. He also erected a rather high fence to keep out the riff raff, as he so delicately put it. I assumed he didn't like visitors. Other than my Gram, my Aunt Irene and, of course, me.
Uncle Wally. What a guy.
