1002. YOU'RE NEVER GETTING HIM BACK

YOU'RE NEVER

GETTING HIM BACK
My father had a father whose brother
was 'lost in the Yankee War.' That's the
way he always phrased, and I was never
sure. Sports? A baseball murder?
A form of New England play?
-
He meant, apparently, the Ardennes
Forest, but with a 10th grade education
what was to be expected? Little else.
The Yankee War would have to do -
especially since, in 5th grade myself,
I learned the Civil War wouldn't fit,
since 'Grandpa' was born in 1876.
-
Damned if I ever got to the bottom
of all that. My mother would just
say - 'Yes, whatever, he's gone
and you're not getting him back.'
That, too, was so disconcerting -
like they did it for spite, and
knew I was hurting.