My Uncle Raymond by Virginia

My Uncle Raymond was a Character to Remember
by Virginia 7/2008

My Uncle Raymond was my favorite uncle, even though I was told when I was born that when he learned that I was a girl, he told them, Send her back!

He was my youngest uncle, and he still lived at home with my grandmother. He always had a smile and was very friendly and helpful. Even though I was a girl, I believe I was special to him. He was always teasing me.

One special thing he did was he took me for a ride on his motorcycle. That was all right with Uncle Raymond, but I never wanted to be on a motorcycle again.

At one time he was a life guard at Samlando Springs. That was a fun place to go. There was an indoor pool as well as the natural spring. The spring itself had a rail guard around it. The water flowed out to make a beautiful swimming area with a sandy beach.

Uncle Raymond took me swimming one afternoon at the springs. He decided that was the time for me to learn to swim. He said right in the spring, where the water boiled up, was the best place to learn, because the water would hold you up and you couldn’t sink. At first I was pretty scared to go in there, but then I saw that the water did hold me up. I did learn to paddle around and stay on top of the water.

Later I did have more regular swimming lessons.


Virginia drew us in as she gave us a snapshot of her favorite uncle. We enjoyed the story of how Uncle Raymond gave her the joy of swimming. What age was she at this time? How old was he? This would be good info to add. Too, I would like for her tell more about what happened to him later in life. She piqued my curiosity about this young man. How about you?

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